<•■   L. 


Southern  Branch 
of  the 

University  of  California 

Los  Angeles 


Form  L  1 

\\\s 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  belo. 


^'AV  16 


1930 


Form  L-9-15;?i-8,'24 


STUDIES  IX  DEVELOPMENT  AND 
LEARNING 


COXTKIBUTIOXS   FK03I   THE   DEPARTMENT   OF   PSYCHOL- 
OGY AND  CHILD  STUDY  IN  THE  FITCHBUKG  NORMAL 
SCHOOL,  3I\DE  BY  THE  ADVANCED  CLASS  OF 
1907,   AND  EDITED 


BY 

EDWIN  A.   KIRKPATRICK,  Pn.M. 


HEAD    OF   THE    DEPARTMENT. 


ARCHIVES    OF    PSYCHOLOGY 

BDITBD    BT 

B.  S.  WOODWORTH 


No.  12,  MABcn,  1909 


NEW  YOKK 

THE  SCIENCE  PKESS 

1909 


Press  of 

The  New  era  printing  CoMPANr 

Lancaster.  Pa. 


CONTENTS 

Page 
THESIS    I 

Physical  Tests  and  Measueements.     Lillian  G.  Myers 1 

Comments    2 

THESIS    II 

Development  of  Auditoey  and  Visual  IMemoby.   Mary  J.  Conway 4 

Comments    8 

THESIS    III 
Development  of  Childeen  in  Quickness  of  Peeception  and  Movements. 

Sadie  E.  Lamprey  9 

Comments    14 

THESIS    IV 

Development  of  the  Aetistic  Sense.     Grace  L.  Seaver 1& 

Comments    24 

THESIS    V 

Development  of  Penmanship.      Grace  E.  Stockwell 25 

Comments    31 

THESIS    VI 

The  Development  of  Language.     Elizabeth  S.  Smith 32 

Title  only. 

THESIS    VII 
Chaeacteeistics  of  Childeen  as  Viewed  by  Teachees.    Mabel  Josephine 

Spalter   33 

Comments    35 

THESIS    VIII 

The  Cubve  of  Learning.     Abbie  F.  Munn 36 

Comments    52 

THESIS    IX 
Fatigue  in  Habit  Foemation.     Marian  F.  Lane 53 

Title  only. 

THESIS    X 

Ways  of  Learning  Visual  Foems.     May  N.  Hills 54 

Comments    59 

THESIS    XI 

Methods  of  Leaening  Visual  Foems.     Edna  L.  Battles 60 

iii 


j^  C0NTENT8 

Page 
THESIS    XII 

IIow  CniLDREN  Study.      Martha  Josephine  Baldwin 65 

THESIS    XIII 
An  Expebimentai-  Study  of  Musical  Lkakning.     Mary  G.  Gilles 71 

THESIS    XIV 
Incidental  Memory.      Isabel  Wallace 79 

THESIS    XV 
Children's  Ideas  of  Right  and  Wrong.      Fannie  G.  Stearns 89 

THESIS    XVI 

An  Individual  Child.     Frances  D.  Smitli 100 

Title  only. 

THESIS    XVII 
Notes  on  a  Child's  Development.     Grace  I.  Davis 100 


PREFACE 

The  students  of  the  advanced  or  four  years  course  in  the  Fitch- 
burg  Normal  School  are  required  to  write  a  thesis  during  the  last 
year  on  some  subject  connected  with  psychology  or  child  study. 
They  usually  collect  data  and  treat  them  statistically.  This  year 
the  data,  consisting  largely  of  a  series  of  measurements  and  tests 
made  upon  the  six  hundred  children  in  the  training  school  during 
the  last  five  years,  were  of  more  value  than  usual,  and  it  was  thought 
best  to  print  parts  of  a  number  of  the  theses,  with  an  introduction 
and  supplementary  comments  by  the  head  of  the  department.  Only 
those  parts  of  the  theses  that  are  of  general  psychological  and  peda- 
gogical interest  are  included.  Complete  theses  would  doubtless  be 
of  interest  to  some  who  are  interested  in  knowing  the  value  of  thesis 
writing  as  a  method  of  training  elementary  teachers,  but  to  have 
published  in  full  would  have  made  the  monograph  too  large  and 
detracted  from  its  interest  to  psychologists.  All  unnecessary  details 
therefore,  together  with  some  suggestions  of  practical  applications, 
are  omitted.  With  very  few  minor  exceptions  the  language  of  the 
students  is  unchanged.  All  the  theses  were  accompanied  by  refer- 
ences, but  as  most  of  them  were  incomplete,  including  only  material 
well  known  to  psychologists,  they  are  omitted.  The  editor  when 
necessary  has  prefaced  each  thesis  with  an  explanation  of  the  tests 
on  which  it  is  based,  and  followed  each  with  brief  comments. 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  remark  that  the  past  year  nearly  all 
of  the  advanced  class,  instead  of  taking  a  general  topic  for  study, 
took  a  concrete  case  of  a  child  backward  in  one  or  many  lines  and 
tried  to  improve  him,  accompanying  the  teaching  by  reading  and 
by  carefully  kept  records  of  what  was  done  and  the  results.  This 
studying  of  individual  children  in  order  to  teach  them  more  effec- 
tively proved  to  be  of  much  more  value  and  interest  than  the  mere 
studying  of  individuals  without  expecting  to  do  anything  for  them. 

E.    A.    KiRKPATRICK. 

FiTCHBURG,  Mass., 
November,  1908. 


STUDIES  IN  DEVELOr^MENT  AND  LEARNING 


THESIS    I 

/  93-a  S 
Physical   Tests   and  -  IVIeasurements 

By  Lillian  G.  Myers 

Editor's  Explanation.— The  data  regarding  physical  develop- 
ment summarized  in  the  tables  that  follow  were  taken  about  the 
first  of  October  of  each  year  by  the  Normal  students  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  head  of  the  Department  of  Child  Study.  One  or  two 
students  usually  took  charge  of  each  instrument  and  made  the  tests 
and  measurements  of  all  the  children  as  they  passed  along  the  line. 
The  ordinary  clothing  at  that  season  of  the  year  was  worn  by  the 
children  except  that  the  boys  were  asked  to  remove  their  coats  while 
being  weighed  and  measured.  At  first  shoes  were  also  removed,  but 
later  this  was  given  up.  The  head  of  the  department  tried  to  secure 
accuracy  in  measurement  but  of  course  there  were  slight  errors  due 
to  the  personal  equation  of  those  taking  the  measurements  at  dif- 
ferent times.  Larger  errors,  due  to  the  mishandling  of  an  instru- 
ment, sometimes  occurred  but  were  usually  discovered  and  corrected 
before  many  measurements  were  made.  Although  not  quite  as  ac- 
curate as  measurements  made  by  experts  the  sources  of  error  are 
not  large  enough  to  vitiate  the  general  results.  In  the  grip  test 
an  adjustable  dynamometer  of  the  Smedley  type  was  used,  which 
gives  a  higher  record  especially  for  small  children  than  the  ordinary 
non-adjustable  instrument.  The  tests  of  chest  expansion  and  of 
lung  capacity  are  not  always  correct  indications  of  the  strength  of 
individual  children,  especially  of  the  lower  grades  because  they  do 
not  know  how  to  empty  and  fill  the  lungs  to  the  extent  that  they  are 
capable  of  if  they  only  knew  just  how  to  do  it.  Sometimes  a  de- 
termined effort  to  contract  the  chest  results  only  in  rigidity  or  actual 
expansion.  Better  results  are  usually  obtained  by  letting  the  chil- 
dren imitate  other  children  or  the  experimenter  than  by  telling  them 
what  to  do  and  urging  them  to  do  their  best. 

Thesis.— (As  the  facts  discussed  in  this  thesis  are  of  a  familiar 
character  only  the  table  is  here  reproduced.) 


STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND    LEARNING 


TABLE 

I 

Physical  Measubements  and  Tests 

Ages 

Girls 

Boys 

1 

1 

1 

1 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

Number 

40 

40 

40 

40 

40 

40. 

30 

10 

40 

40 

40 

40      40 

40 

30 

10 

Weight 

20- 

99  0 

25.1 
125.9 

26.8    9.Q 

32.5 
142 

37.6 

147.9 

41.3 
154 

21.4 
115.4 

23.5 
121.8 

25.1 
126.2 

27.5    30.3    32.4 

34.H 

38,5 

Height  standing.. 

fl  3.5  120.8 

130.3 

136.3 

130.4135.6  139.7144 

148.4 

Height  sitting.... 

61.4  165.3 

67.5 

69.2 

72.4 

73.4 

75.5 

80 

62.7 

65.2 

67 

68.7  ,70.7    72.4    73.5175.7 

Breadth  of  head.. 

14.1 

14.1 

14.1 

14.2 

14.3 

14.4 

14.5 

14.7 

14.2 

14.3 

14.5 

14.6    14.5    14.6    14.8ll4.8 

Breadth  of  chest.. 

18.3 

18.8 

19.4 

20.1 

20.4 

21.1 122 

22.4 

18.9 

19.5 

20 

20.9    21.3    21.6    21.7|21.8 

Breadth  of  waist.. 

16.5 

17.6 

18.8 

18.7 

18.9 

19.3  19.5 

19.2 

16.6 

17.5 

18.7  !19.7    20.2    20.3    20.2  19.3 

Girth  of  head 

50.6 

51.7 

52 

52.4 

52.7 

52.7 

53 

52.6 

51.3 

51.7 

52.6    53.2   53.3   53.4   53.4  53.9 

Depth  of  chest.... 

14.6 

14.9 

15 

15.7 

15.8 

16.2 

16.9 

17.2i 

15 

15.4 

15.5 

16.2  !16.4    16.7    17.2  17.8 

Chest  expansion.. 

5.0 

5.6 

7.2 

6.4 

7.4 

7.9 

8.4 

8.3 

5.2 

6.0 

7.2 

7.4  j  7.6     8.6  i  8.1    8.5 

Lung  capacity.... 

.67 

.92 

.95 

1.11 

1.201.41 

1.50 

1.34 

.80 

1.07 

1.18 

1.43!  1.54    1.721.87'  1.86 

Grip,  right 

99 

121 

134 

i?j » 

14  9    18  3 

9n 

22  5 

12  2 

14  5 

15  8    18  8  lis  9   20  9   22  2  216 

Grip,  left 

101 

124 

133    14.« 

15  2     17  9  1QQ 

20X! 

12  3 

14  1 

14  9    17.^   llR.'i   190       217:20  7 

'  "^ 

^' 

- 

Editor's  Comment. — These  tables  may  best  be  compared  with 
those  of  Professor  Hastings  in  his  "  Manual  of  Physical  Measure- 
ments "  since  the  instruments  and  methods  used  were  similar. 
With  very  few  exceptions  these  tables  are  higher  for  both  boys  and 
girls  at  all  ages  than  those  of  Professor  Hastings  though  in  most 
cases  where  there  is  no  difference  in  the  instruments  and  the  mode 
of  taking  the  measurements,  the  difference  is  very  slight.  His  tables 
are  based  on  more  children  but  these  have  the  advantage  of  being 
based  in  a  large  measure  upon  the  same  children  at  different  ages. 

The  differences  in  height  and  weight  which,  according  to  the 
tables,  place  eastern  children  about  one  year  in  advance  of  western 
in  those  respects  is  partly,  but  perhaps  not  wholly,  accounted  for  by 
the  fact  that  our  children  retained  their  shoes,  while  those  measured 
under  the  direction  of  Professor  Hastings  did  not. 

In  height  sitting  the  differences  are  slight,  also  in  breadth  of 
head  and  girth  of  head,  but  in  breadth  of  chest  and  of  waist  they 
are  somewhat  greater,  while  in  depth  of  chest  the  difference  is  very 
marked  amounting  at  nearly  every  age  to  two  or  more  cm.  This 
can  not  be  accounted  for  by  any  difference  in  clothing  or  mode  of 
measurement  so  far  as  we  know.  It  seems  to  indicate  a  marked 
physiological  difference  between  eastern  and  western  children. 

Chest  expansion  and  lung  capacity  correspond  pretty  well,  con- 
sidering the  difficulty  of  making  accurate  tests  of  children  who  have 
had  little  or  no  practice  in  controlling  the  muscles  of  chest  and 
lungs. 

The  difference  of  from  two  to  six  kilograms  in  the  strength  of 
forearm,  as  indicated  by  grip,  can  not  be  wholly  accounted  for  by 
the  adjustable  dynamometer  used  by  us,  for  our  records  are  some- 


PHYSICAL    TESTS    AND    MEASUREMENTS  3 

what  higher  than  those  of  the  Chicago  Child  Study  Department 
where  the  same  instrument  was  used.  The  fact  that  many  of  our 
children  had  taken  the  test  one  or  more  times  may  have  given  them 
some  advantage.  In  one  other  respect  our  results  are  peculiar,  i.  e., 
in  the  relative  strength  of  right  and  left  hands.  In  our  tables  the 
figures  for  the  left  hand  are  relatively  high  at  all  ages,  and  up  to 
nine  years  of  age  are  absolutely  higher  than  for  the  right  hand. 
Others  have  found  the  right  hand  slightly  superior  at  six  and 
markedly  so  after  twelve. 

It  was  hoped  that  these  tests,  carefully  chosen  for  their  close 
relation  to  development  and  health,  would  be  a  valuable  means  of 
diagnosing  the  condition  and  progressive  development  of  individual 
children,  but  this  hope  has  been  realized  only  in  part.  In  averages 
of  the  measurements  of  a  number  of  children,  errors  due  to  slight 
difference  in  clothing  and  to  the  personal  equation  of  different  per- 
sons who  make  the  measurements,  and  to  the  variation  in  the  intelli- 
gence and  intensity  of  effort  on  the  part  of  the  children  in  the 
strength  tests,  are  likely  to  cancel  each  other.  In  individual  cases, 
however,  the  figures  recorded  for  the  same  child  in  successive  years 
may  often  be  misleading.  This  is  true  of  the  vital  strength  tests 
and  the  measurements  of  breadth  of  chest  and  waist.  In  such 
measurements  as  those  of  girth  of  head  and  breadth  of  head,  although 
the  probable  error  of  measurement  is  not  great,  yet  the  change  from 
year  to  year  is  slight  and  may  be  less  than  the  error  of  measurement. 

If  the  same  person  made  all  these  measurements  and  tests  year 
after  year  in  the  same  way,  the  records  would  doubtless  be  very 
significant  of  the  actual  development  of  individual  children,  but 
where  different  persons  have  handled  the  instruments  and  directed 
the  efforts  of  children  w^ho  have  not  practiced  the  tests,  the  records 
can  not  be  implicitly  relied  upon  as  showing  variations  in  the 
individual  though  any  marked  individual  variations  from  the  normal 
are  clearly  shown,  and  the  averages  are  fairly  reliable. 

In  the  case  of  measurements  of  height  and  weight  the  facts  are 
somewhat  different,  for  the  changes  from  year  to  year  are  well  above 
any  probable  error  due  to  the  personal  equation  of  the  measurers 
or  to  slight  variation  in  clothing  (if  the  measurements  are  made  at 
the  same  time  of  the  year). 


THESIS  II 

Development  of   Auditory   and   Visual   j\lEiiORY 
By  Maby  J.  CoxwAY 

Editor's  Explanation.— The  data  regarding  memory  discussed 
in  this  thesis  were  taken  each  year  at  about  the  same  time  by  the 
head  of  the  Department.  Cards  with  from  three  to  nine  figures  of 
good  size  were  used  for  the  visual  test  and  similar  series  of  spoken 
numbers  for  the  auditory  test.  In  both  cases  the  time  occupied 
was  between  one  and  two  seconds  for  each  digit.  In  the  lower 
grades  series  of  from  three  to  six  digits  were  given,  while  in  the 
upper  grades  series  with  two  or  three  more  digits  were  also  given. 
The  same  number  of  digits  wa's  given  two  or  three  times.  In  mark- 
ing, no  credit  was  given  excex>t  for  series  that  were  correctly  re- 
produced in  the  proper  order.  Averages  were  not  made  but  each 
pupil  was  credited  with  the  highest  number  of  digits  that  he  repro- 
duced correctly  every  time  that  many  digits  were  given  him.  This 
was  taken  as  his  standard  memory  span  while  variations  from  this 
standard,  due  to  fluctuating  attention  and  other  causes  were  indi- 
cated by  i)lus  or  minus  the  excess  or  deficiency.  For  example  a 
boy  who  reproduced  six  digits  every  time  that  number  was  shown, 
but  failed  once  on  five  digits  and  succeeded  on  one  of  seven  and  one 
of  eight  digits  was  marked  6  -f  1  +  2  —  1.  Such  extreme  variation 
as  this  was  of  course  rare.  Had  four  or  five  series  of  each  number 
of  digits  been  used  the  standard  alone  would  probably  have  been 
a  good  indication  of  the  individual  mental  span.  The  children  were 
always  very  much  interested  in  this  test,  and  though  pains  was 
taken  to  prevent  them  from  beginning  to  write  before  the  series  was 
complete  or  from  looking  on  the  paper  of  some  other  child,  yet  a  few 
incorrect  records  due  to  these  causes  were  doubtless  included.  Some 
errors  were  prol^al^ly  also  made  by  the  student  teachers  who  looked 
over  the  children's  papers  and  recorded  the  results.  Such  sources 
of  error  however  would  not  apply  to  one  age  or  sex  more  than 
anoiluT  and  Injnce  would  not  affect  the  comparative  averages. 

Thesis.— Tha  results  of  tlie  tests  taken,  when  tabulated,  show 
what  has  been  proved  l)y  other  tests  and  what  is  learned  by  ordinary 
observation,  that  the  memory  span,  or  the  power  to  reproduce  im- 
pressiorjs  just  received,  increases  with  age  to  a  marked  degree. 

These  same  tests  had  been  taken  on  the  students  at  the  Fitch- 

4 


DETELOPMEyi    OF    AUDITORY    ASD    TISUAL    MEMORY  5 

burg  Normal  School  and  the  average  of  103  students  was  6.3  for 
the  auditory  and  7.3  for  the  visual  record  in  the  first  test,  and  the 
average  of  eight  who  took  the  test  a  second  time  is  7.2  for  the  audi- 
tory and  8.5  for  the  visual.  These  show  a  slight  superiority  over 
the  record  of  the  children  in  the  grades. 

Older  pupils  have  the  advantage  in  a  memory  test,  because  no 
test  that  can  be  given  is  so  new  to  them  as  to  the  child.  In  another 
test  in  this  school  where  some  adults  who  were  unacquainted  with 
Greek  and  some  children  were  tested  with  the  Greek  letters,  the 
adults'  record  did  not  show  much  gain  over  the  children's.  Even 
in  this  case,  although  the  letters  were  unfamiliar  to  the  adults,  still 
they  could  see  their  resemblance  to  other  symbols  more  readily  than 
the  children  and  they  still  had  the  advantage. 

Development  of  memory  is  really  a  training  of  the  mind,  in  the 
power  of  concentrating  the  attention  and  of  associating  the  new 
with  the  old. 

TABLE  n 

INCREASE  rx  Memost  Spa^ 

Auditory 


Ages. 

6 

7 

s 

9 

10 

11 

12 

IS 

14 

Boys,  Xo., 

s 

56 

63 

56 

62 

51 

40 

26 

IS 

Averag^e, 

3.S 

3.9 

4.2 

4.6 

4.9 

5.5 

5.1 

5.6 

6.0 

Girls,  Xo., 

15 

54 

71 

65 

79 

53 

3S 

30 

5 

Average, 

3.6 

4.1 

4.3 
Ti 

4.S 

sual 

5.0 

5.3 

5.5 

5.8 

5.0 

BOTS,  Xo., 

10 

4S 

62 

5S 

66 

52 

19 

26 

7 

Average, 

3.1 

3.S 

4.0 

5.0 

5.6 

5.9 

5.4 

5.0 

5.8 

Girls,  Xo., 

14 

4S 

63 

74 

71 

53 

40 

25 

3 

Average, 

3.4 

3.6 

4.5 

4.9 

5.5 

6.0 

6.1 

6.3 

6.0 

Table  II.  shows  the  average  memory  span  of  cMldren  of  different 
ages,  age  sis  meaning  more  than  six  and  less  than  seven,  and  the 
same  for  other  ages.  Fig.  1  shows  the  same  as  the  table,  except  that 
allowance  has  been  made  in  the  figure  for  the  "  variations  "  from 
the  standard  records  (see  above,  p.  3).  One  third  of  each  variation 
is  added  to  or  subtracted  from  the  standard. 

With  the  boys  from  six  to  nine  the  auditory  memory  is  better 
than  the  visual,  with  the  girls  from  six  to  eight  the  same  is  true 
showing  what  has  been  proved  by  other  tests  that  younger  children 
remember  better  what  they  hear,  probably  because  of  the  fact  that 
before  a  child  euters  school  he  receives  most  of  his  ideas  through 
the  auditory  sense,  while  the  experience  that  the  child  gets  in 
the  school  room  teaches  him  visual  language,  and  this  learning  of 
words  and  numbers  visually  gives  him  a  tendency  to  represent  things 
visuallv. 


STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND   LEARNING 


T 

6 

5 

4 

3 


'.A^^%, 


(o 


Auditory 
(;>    T    8    9    io  li   ^^  ^3  >^ 


?5 

O 

1^ 


3 


Visual 

Fig.   1.     Increase  in  Memory  Span. 


From  the  ages  of  eight  and  nine  to  fourteen  the  visual  memory 
is  better  than  the  auditory.  In  the  tests  taken  upon  Normal  School 
students  the  same  is  true. 

The  auditory  memories  of  girls  from  six  to  eleven  are  better 
than  those  of  boys,  from  eleven  to  twelve  both  records  are  the  same, 
from  twelve  to  thirteen  the  record  of  the  girls  is  better  than  the  boys 
again,  but  at  fourteen  the  curve  of  the  boys  is  above. 

In  the  visual  curve  the  girls  record  is  higher  than  the  boys  except 
from  eight  to  nine  where  the  boys'  record  is  better.  From  ten  to 
fourteen  the  record  of  the  girls  is  very  much  better  than  of  the 
boys. 

Generally  speaking  the  curves  seem  to  indicate  that  the  memory 
span  or  immediate  memory  of  girls  is  better  than  that  of  boys. 

The  preceding  table  and  curve  show  the  average  memory  span 
of  children,  not  all  of  whom  were  the  same  at  the  different  ages. 
An  attempt  was  also  made  to  trace  the  gain  of  the  same  children 


DEVELOPMENT    OF   AUDITORY   AND    VISUAL    MEMORY  7 

from  one  year  to  the  next — which  could  be  done  to  some  extent,  as 
three  or  four  successive  tests  had  been  made  on  a  good  number  of 
them.  The  records  for  each  individual  for  the  three  or  four  suc- 
cessive tests  were  examined,  and  if  there  was  a  gain  from  one  year 
to  the  next  it  was  marked  plus  and  if  there  was  a  loss  it  was  marked 
minus.  The  results  are  shown  in  Table  III.,  which  gives  the  aver- 
age gain  both  in  the  "standard"  record  (see  above,  p.  — ),  and  in 
the  record  when  allowance  is  made  for  the  ' '  variations. ' '  The  num- 
bers under  each  age  give  the  gains  in  the  year  preceding  that  age. 

TABLE    III 

Memory  Span 
Auditory 


Age. 
Girls,  No., 
Standard, 

7>^ 

8 
3 
.3 

8>^ 
6 
.5 

9 
11 
1.1 

934     1" 
6      31 

.7  —.1 

WX2 
5 

1.6 

11 
25 
.5 

4 

12 
15 
.2 

3 
2.0 

13        ] 

15 
.6 

3>^ 

14 

Variation 
combined. 

.3 

.3 

1.4 

1.7       .1 

1.2 

.3 

.4 

2.1 

1.3 

Boys,  No., 
Standard, 

5 

.2 

3 
1.0 

25 

.8 

25 
.9 

12 
1.1 

2 

1.0 

8 
.9 

4 
.3 

9 

—.1 

1 

2.0 

5 

.8 

Variation 
combined, 

.3 

1.1 

.9 

.6 

Visual 

.9 

.3 

.3 

—.1 

1.7 

.3 

Girls,  No., 
Standard, 

2 

1.0 

5 
3.0 

5 
.4 

15 
.9 

7      25 
.1     1.0 

8 
1.0 

18 
1.0 

3 
1.3 

12 
—.3 

16 
—.3 

3 

—.7 

2 
.5 

Variation 
combined. 

1.0 

2.7 

— .1 

1.0 

.3     1.0 

1.0 

1.0 

1.4 

—.5 

0 

— .1 

.7 

Boys,  No., 
Standard, 

3 
1.3 

3 
—.3 

20 
1.1 

5      17 
1.4     1.5 

7 
1.3 

10 
1.3 

3 
1.3 

13 
.3 

G 
—.2 

11 
—.6 

3 

—.7 

2 

1.0 

Variation 
combined. 

1.1 

1.1 

1.1 

1.2     1.5 

1.1 

1.3 

1.6 

.4 

—.4 

—1.0 

—.6 

.7 

In  the  auditory  memory  of  the  girls  there  is  a  marked  gain  to 
nine  and  a  half,  then  at  ten  there  is  a  loss  with  a  gain  from  twelve 
to  thirteen. 

In  the  visual  memory  of  the  boys  there  is  a  very  marked  loss 
at  thirteen  the  same  as  with  the  auditory. 

In  the  visual  memory  of  the  girls  there  is  a  loss  between  eight 
and  nine  but  a  more  marked  loss  at  twelve. 

In  the  visual  memory  of  the  girls  there  is  a  loss  between  eight 
and  nine  but  a  more  marked  loss  at  twelve. 

In  each  case  there  seems  to  be  a  difference  of  from  one  to  three 
years  in  the  time  when  this  retarded  growth  of  memory  comes  to  the 
boys  and  girls,  the  retarded  growth  coming  earlier  in  the  girls  in 
each  case. 


8 


STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND   LEARNING 


This  corresponds  with  the  studies  which  have  been  made  of  the 
bodily  -rowth  of  children,  since  there  is  a  diminished  rate  of  growth 
in  girir  about  ten  and  in  boys  about  twelve  with  a  rapid  growth 

afterward.  .1,1 

This  matter  of  memory  span  is  very  important  m  the  learning 
of  spelling;  the  fact  that  some  children  fail  repeatedly  in  their 
spelling  may  be  because  those  children  have  a  poor  visual  or  audi- 
tory memory. 

If  we  remember  that  there  is  a  limit  to  a  child's  mental  grasp 
we  shall  be  careful  about  the  length  of  directions  which  we  give 
him  and  will  not  think  a  child  stupid  because  he  does  not  take  in 
very  many  directions  at  once.  In  giving  a  dictation  lesson  the 
number  of  words  dictated  at  a  time  should  be  determined  by  the 
child's  age  and  mental  grasp. 

The  primary  teacher  should  remember  the  fact  that  the  younger 
pupils  are  more  ear  minded  than  eye  minded. 

Since  an  impression  is  more  lasting  if  it  is  received  through  two 
senses  at  once,  the  teacher  should  see  that  the  pupils  receive  both  vis- 
ual and  auditory  impressions  of  facts  as  much  as  possible.  In  fact 
these  principles  are  applicable  to  everything  we  teach. 

Editor's  Comynent. —With,  many,  and  probably  most  persons  the 
number  of  things  that  can  be  held  in  mind  at  one  time,  or  that  can 
be  grasped  and  immediately  reproduced,  is  very  definitely  limited, 
at  least  for  any  particular  kind  of  mental  content.  The  determina- 
tion of  such  limit  for  an  individual  at  a  particular  stage  of  develop- 
ment is  therefore  a  practicable  and  important  means  of  measuring 
certain  forms  of  his  individual  mental  ability.  These  tests  indicate 
that  such  limits  or  standards  may  be  determined  by  only  a  few 
tests,  since  a  large  number  of  children  can  remember  just  so  many 
digits,  and  uniformly  fail  when  more  are  given.  It  is  probable 
that  most  tests  of  individual  mental  ability  would  better  be  directed 
toward  determining  the  limit  of  power  under  usual  conditions,  in- 
stead of  averages  of  a  large  number  of  experiments.  Variations 
from  these  limits  should  not  be  fused  with  the  ordinary  limits  by 
averages  but  kept  separate  and  interpreted  as  signs  of  variation, 
which  is  such  a  marked  feature  of  some  lives  and  comparatively 
rare  in  others. 


THESIS    III 

The   Development   of    Children  in    Quickness    of    Perception 

AND  Movement 

By  Sadie  E.  Lamprey 

Editor's  Explanation. — The  Perception  Motor  test  consisted  of 
making  with  a  pencil  one  hundred  marks  in  fifty  squares  in  each 
of  which  was  the  figure  1,  2  or  3  to  indicate  the  number  of  marks 
to  be  made.  Students  supervised  the  tests  of  individual  children, 
recording  the  time  in  seconds  from  an  ordinary  watch,  the  children 
being  encouraged  to  work  as  rapidly  as  possible.  Since  this  test 
was  made  at  the  same  time  as  the  other  tests,  about  a  month  after 
school  began,  many  of  the  first  grade  children  were  not  familiar  with 
figures.  Those  who  were  not  were  taught  how  many  marks  the 
figures  told  them  to  make  and  when  they  could  tell  correctly  how 
many  marks  they  were  going  to  make  in  various  indicated  squares 
the  test  was  begun.  In  general  the  errors  were  so  few  as  not  to 
be  worth  while  keeping  account  of.  Children  who  could  not  learn  or 
were  so  slow  that  they  could  not  complete  the  test  in  five  minutes 
were  excused,  their  cards  being  marked  "x."  There  were  only  a 
few  such  children  and  in  every  case  they  were  children  who  were 
not  capable  of  doing  successfully  the  regular  school  work.  Children 
sometimes  stopped  to  rub  out  an  extra  line  they  had  made  or  to  see 
what  some  one  else  was  doing,  but  were  always  reminded  by  the 
student  in  charge  to  go  on  marking  as  fast  as  possible.  The  sources 
of  error  due  to  such  cases  as  these  were  large  in  the  case  of  the 
smaller  children,  but  much  less  for  the  larger  children. 

Thesis. — The  data  upon  which  this  thesis  is  based  consist  of  the 
complete  records  of  ninety  boys  and  ninety-five  girls  who  were  tested 
at  least  four  times.  Besides  these  there  were  records  of  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  children,  who  had  taken  the  tests  a  less  number 
of  times.  As  an  aid  in  getting  at  the  conclusions,  this  supplemen- 
tary list  was  sometimes  used  as  will  be  explained  later. 

In  one  set  of  tabulations  the  results  of  all  the  children  taking 
the  first  test  were  tabulated  according  to  age  and  sex ;  here  the  com- 
parison is  between  different  children  at  different  ages.  In  the  other 
tabulations  the  gain  of  each  child  over  his  own  previous  record 
is  the  basis  of  tabulation.  The  two  tables  agree  fairly  well  as  to  the 
periods  of  greatest  gain. 

9 


10 


STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND    LEARNING 


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Fig.  2.     Time  Occupied  in  the  Perception-motor  Test  at  Different  Ages,  and 
at  First  to  Fifth  Tests. 


DEVELOPMENT   IN    QUICKNESS    OF    PERCEPTION  H 

The  progress  in  rapidity  according  to  this  test  may  be  divided 
for  each  sex  into  three  periods,  the  time  of  greatest  growth,  the 
time  of  next  greatest,  and  the  time  of  least.  With  the  girls  the 
first  period  extended  from  five  to  nine,  the  second  from  nine  to 
eleven,  the  third  from  eleven  to  fourteen.  With  the  boys  the  first 
period  extended  from  five  to  nine,  the  second  from  nine  to  twelve, 
and  the  third  from  twelve  to  fourteen.  The  complete  arrest  of 
growth  with  the  girls  came  from  twelve  to  thirteen,  a  year  younger 
than  with  the  boys.  The  average  of  the  335  boys  of  all  ages  was  86 
seconds,  while  of  the  246  girls  was  78  seconds,  shewing  that  girls 
were  better  in  this  test  than  boys.  The  only  ages  in  which  the  boys 
did  not  require  more  time  than  the  girls  were  those  of  thirteen 
and  fourteen. 

The  results  of  the  second  test  correspond  in  a  general  w^ay  with 
those  obtained  in  the  first.  The  ages  of  the  boys  ranged  from  six  to 
thirteen,  and  of  the  girls  from  six  to  fourteen,  though  the  number 
taking  the  test  at  fourteen  was  only  two. 

The  most  important  thing  to  be  noted  is  the  fact  that  the  girls 
failed  to  improve  from  eleven  to  thirteen  and  especially  from  twelve 
to  thirteen.  With  the  boys  this  failure  in  improvement  began  at  the 
age  of  twelve,  but  the  data  do  not  cover  the  fourteenth  year,  so  that 
this  can  not  be  traced  any  further. 

An  interesting  thing  in  comparing  the  averages  of  the  first  two 
tests  for  the  corresponding  years  is  the  fact  that  with  the  practice 
gained  in  the  first  test  came  added  ability  which  carried  over  the 
interval  of  a  year  so  that  children  taking  the  test  the  second  time 
were  superior  to  those  of  the  same  age  taking  it  the  first  time. 

The  total  average  for  the  194  girls  taking  this  second  test  was 
66  seconds ;  for  the  223  boys,  70  seconds. 

The  third  test  which  included  children  of  the  ages  seven  to  thir- 
teen showed  a  curve  something  like  those  of  the  first  and  second 
tests.  In  the  case  of  the  girls  the  arrest  came  at  the  formerly  found 
period — from  eleven  on.  With  the  boys  there  is  a  loss  from  the  age 
of  twelve  to  thirteen.  The  average  time  required  by  the  129  girls 
was  58  seconds,  by  the  boys  61  seconds.  There  was  a  slight  gain  in 
the  ability  of  the  children  of  different  years  in  the  third  test  over 
the  ability  of  those  in  the  corresponding  years  in  the  second  test, 
though  the  difference  was  not  as  great  as  was  that  between  the 
first  and  second  tests. 

The  curves  for  the  fourth  and  fifth  tests  are  given,  though  the 
number  of  pupils  in  comparison  with  those  in  the  first  are  so  few 
that  the  results  are  less  reliable. 


12 


STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND   LEARNING 


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Fig.  3.     The  Perception-motor  Test.     Gains  of  individuals  from  year  to  year. 
Broken  line  for  girls,  solid  line  for  boys. 

In  the  second  tabulation  the  result  sought  was  the  gain  of  the 
children  over  what  they  were  themselves  a  year  before. 

With  both  boys  and  girls  the  gain  was  much  greater  in  the  ear- 
lier years  than  in  the  later.  From  eleven  on,  the  girls  practically 
made  no  gain.  This  slackening  of  development  in  the  boys  came 
from  twelve  on.  Both  sexes  suffered  actual  loss  at  one  period:  the 
fourteen-year-old  girls  over  those  of  thirteen,  and  the  fifteen-year- 
old  boys  over  those  of  fourteen.  The  greatest  gain  in  both  sexes  of 
one  age  over  the  preceding  was  of  those  of  six  over  those  of  five,  the 
gain  of  the  girls  being  35  seconds,  and  of  the  boys,  39  seconds. 


DEVELOPMENT   IN    QUICKNESS   OF   PERCEPTION  13 

In  order  to  find  out  if  practice  actually  did  influence  the  results 
of  the  successive  tests,  the  gain  in  time  of  boys  and  girls  in  the 
second  test  over  the  first,  in  the  third  over  the  second,  and  the 
fourth  over  the  third,  was  reckoned  and  divided  by  the  number 
in  each  case  taking  the  test.  The  average  gains  for  the  boys  were 
respectively  21,  15  and  13 — for  the  girls  20,  14  and  11.  Practice 
must  therefore  have  aided. 

Other  experiments  show  that  with  continuous  special  practice  the 
improvement  in  this  perception  motor  test  is  rapid.  These  experi- 
ments were  made  upon  a  group  of  normal  school  students  and  upon 
two  children.  As  a  result  of  the  practice,  the  decrease  in  time  after 
ten  trials  was  18  per  cent,  for  the  normal  school  students,  20  per  cent, 
for  the  seven-year-old  girl,  and  25  per  cent,  for  the  five-year-old  boy. 

TABLE    IV 
Time  for  the  Perception-motor  Test,  Repeated  Annually 

Girls 


5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

Age  in  years 

18 

20 

20 

20 

28 

42 

32 

37 

24 

5 

Number  taking 

test  1 

194 

140 

118 

95 

62 

57 

50 

47 

48 

47 

Average  time 

20 

20 

25 

23 

24 

32 

23 

25 

2 

Number  taking 

test  2 

132 

91 

79 

61 

52 

47 

45 

44 

37 

Average  time 

20 

20 

20 

20 

16 

20 

13 

Number  taking 

test  3 

85 

74 

62 

51 

43 

42 

40 

Average  time 

11 

17 

13 

18 

14 

13 

3 

Number  taking 

test  4 

68 

64 

56 

46 

41 

39 

34 

Average  time 

6 

6 

12 

4 

Number  taking 

test  5 

54 

42 

35 

37 

Average  time 

Boys 

28 

34 

30 

31 

33 

44 

57 

48 

18 

12 

Number  taking 

test  1 

206 

144 

116 

89 

68 

63 

56 

49 

46 

46 

Average  time 

19 

29 

23 

27 

28 

41 

36 

20 

Number  taking 

test  2 

135 

102 

86 

68 

57 

52 

46 

44 

Average  time 

14 

24 

21 

24 

24 

24 

13 

Number  taking 

test  3 

88 

80 

73 

57 

46 

41 

49 

Average  time 

11 

17 

13 

19 

18 

12 

Number  taking 

test  4 

77 

56 

61 

48 

45 

43 

Average  time 

8 
56 

6 

45 

7 
48 

4 
40 

Number  taking 
Average  time 

test  5 

The  two  children  later  took  the  tests  four  times  a  day  with  few 
omissions,  for  four  months.  The  first  seventeen  days  the  girl  made 
a  great  improvement,  the  time  required  changing  from  43  to  30 
seconds.  During  the  fourth  month  the  results  of  the  tests  varied 
little.     This  seems  to  point  to  the  same  fact  that  has  been  mentioned, 


u 


STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND    LEARNING 


namely,  that  at  first  practice  brings  rapid  improvement  in  speed  or 
rapidity  of  movement,  but  that  progress  decreases  as  the  limit  ot 

speed  is  approached.  ,     ,,  .         ^  4.    + 

The  tests  with  the  boy  were  incomplete,  but  the  thing  of  greatest 
note  was  the  eflPect  of  interest  in  his  work.  When  that  lagged,  the 
time  required  for  the  test  was  correspondingly  increased.  For  in- 
stance the  time  record  after  a  month's  practice  suddenly  dropped 
from  the  lowest  record— 106  seconds  to  185  seconds,  which  was  15 
seconds  higher  than  the  initial  record. 

Editor's  Comment.— This  test  seems  to  be  a  pretty  good  one  for 
establishing  a  norm  for  children  of  each  age  and  grade,  considerable 
variations  from  which  would  indicate  the  possession  of  exceptional 
characteristics  in  general.  This  was  particularly  true  for  younger 
children,  the  backward  ones  always  being  slow  in  this  exercise. 

As  in  all  other  tests,  however,  special  practice  quickly  makes 
greater  changes  than  years  of  development  and  general  practice 
in  perception  and  movement.  This  accounts  also  for  the  fact  that 
the  greatest  improvement  is  from  the  first  to  second  grade  where  the 
children  are  becoming  familiar  with  numbers  and  with  the  manipu- 
lation of  a  pencil. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  we  have  here  indications  that  the 
first  repetitions  have  more  effect  than  later  ones  even  when  they  are 
a  year  apart. 

It  is  also  interesting  to  note  in  this  and  several  other  studies  of 
this  series  that  figures  based  on  changes  in  the  same  children  from 
year  to  year  are  of  the  same  general  character  at  different  periods 
as  those  that  have  been  inferred  from  determining  the  difference 
between  different  children  of  all  ages.  The  agreement  is  not,  how- 
ever, complete  and  the  figures  based  on  the  changes  in  the  same 
children  at  different  ages  are  undoubtedly  the  more  significant  when 
the  data  are  reliable,  a  few  cases  being  equal  in  significance  to  many 
upon  the  usual  basis. 


THESIS  IV 

The  Development  of  the  Artistic   Sense 
By  Grace  L.  Seaveb 

Editor's  Explanation.— Data  for  the  study  of  individual  progress 
in  this  and  the  two  following  theses  were  secured  by  taking  samples 
of  the  children's  best  work  twice  a  year  about  a  month  after  school 
began  and  a  month  before  it  closed.  These  specimens  were  deposited 
in  a  pasteboard  box  upon  which  was  the  individual  child's  name. 
The  children  knew  of  these  boxes  and  tried  to  have  as  good  a  speci- 
men of  their  work  as  possible  to  put  in  them.  The  covers  or  port- 
folios were  made  by  folding  a  piece  of  drawing  paper  to  enclose 
the  other  work.  The  pupil  placed  on  the  outside  of  this  portfolio 
his  name,  grade,  the  date  and  whatever  decorations  he  chose.  The 
' '  designs  ' '  on  these  portfolios  constituted  the  data  upon  which  this 
study  of  drawing  and  artistic  development  was  made. 

Thesis.— There  is,  in  the  school  where  these  drawings  were  done, 
a  system  by  means  of  which  a  sample  of  each  child's  work  in  all 
the  departments  is  placed  semi-annually  in  portfolios  which  the  chil- 
dren make  for  this  purpose.  Thus  in  many  cases  it  is  possible  to 
study  the  cover  designs  drawn  by  an  individual  child  at  the  age  of 
six,  six  and  a  half,  seven,  seven  and  a  half,  and  so  on  until  he  is 
thirteen  or  fourteen  years  of  age.  In  many  cases  the  series  were, 
through  various  causes,  incomplete,  but  after  eliminating  those  not 
worth  considering,  there  were  left  the  portfolios  of  one  hundred  and 
thirteen  children,  fifty-three  boys  and  sixty  girls.  From  these  draw- 
ings and  designs  it  has  been  possible  to  extract  some  general  and 
particular  truths  regarding  the  development  of  the  artistic  sense 
of  the  child. 

It  must  be  understood  that  in  this  work  the  children  had  no 
help  or  suggestions  from  the  teacher,  and  relied  wholly  upon  their 
own  ingenuity  in  decorating  the  covers  of  their  portfolios.  They 
also  had  perfect  freedom  in  their  choice  of  materials  and  models 
for  their  designs. 

A  description  of  a  few  of  these  portfolios  may  help  to  give  a 
better  idea  of  the  problem  of  development  in  drawing  as  it  was 
presented  to  me. 

The  first  cover  I  examined  had  at  the  top  a  border  of  squares 
colored  with  red  and  blue  crayons.     The  next  had  lines  across  the 

15 


16  STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND   LEARNING 

corners,  forming  triangles  wliich  were  filled  in  with  the  bright  red 
crayon  Still  another  had  an  inch  border  of  bright  orange  on  all 
four  sides  of  the  paper.  This  I  found  to  be  a  typical  form  of  decora- 
tion, especially  with  flat  washes  of  paint.  The  colors  were  m  many 
cases  very  crude  and  combined  without  any  regard  to  harmony. 

Sometimes  a  portfolio  would  be  completely  covered  with  scrolls, 
flowers,  etc.,  with  no  attempt  at  design.  One  had  a  fanciful  border 
of  stars.  Many  had  the  word  ''Portfolio"  at  the  top,  the  child's 
name  at  the  bottom  and  some  drawing  in  the  middle  of  the  page. 
I  found  the  following  things  represented:  a  bunch  of  grapes,  birds 
of  various  kinds,  a  foot-ball,  flags,  blackboard  with  arithmetic  ex- 
amples, a  squash,  a  pine-tree,  pictures  which  illustrated  stories  and 
other  equally  diverse  objects. 

These  drawings  were  studied  from  a  three-fold  standpoint,  (I.) 
that  of  color,  (II.)  design  or  form,  (III.)  arrangement  and  general 
artistic  effect. 

Regarding  color,  the  generalizations  were  b'ased  upon  data  as  to 
brilliancy,  particular  tone  used,  combinations  of  color,  and  choice 
of  neutral  tints  through  the  medium  of  ink,  pencil  or  brash.  Under 
form  there  were  four  typical  divisions,  objects  from  nature,  geo- 
metric forms,  those  associated  with  some  activity  or  recent  expe- 
rience, and  printing  or  lettering. 

The  last  set  of  statistics  in  regard  to  arrangement  were  put  on 
the  basis  of  comparative  rank  or  degree  of  excellence.  The  letters 
A,  B  and  C  stand  respectively  for  good,  fair  and  poor,  A  meaning 
good,  and  C  poor. 

I  first  made  a  list  of  the  names  of  all  the  children.  The  space 
after  each  name  contained  divisions  for  all  the  half-years  between 
the  ages  of  six  and  thirteen,  inclusive.  In  each  division  I  noted  the 
color,  design  and  rank  of  the  child's  drawing  for  that  particular 
month  (the  tests  being  taken  every  June  and  October.)  This  made 
it  easy  to  obtain  the  averages  for  the  whole,  and  also  to  make 
studies  of  the  development  of  individual  children. 

I 

With  both  boys  and  girls  a  marked  preference  for  bright  colors 
is  shown  in  the  lower  grades,  which  decreases  steadily  as  the  child 
becomes  older. 

It  is  noticeable  that  with  the  boys  the  use  of  bright  colors  remains 
at  about  the  same  per  cent,  until  October  of  the  ninth  year.  (It 
should  be  stated,  perhaps,  that  in  obtaining  these  per  cents,  five 
tenths  of  a  number,  or  over  five  tenths,  was  reckoned  as  an  addi- 
tional per  cent.)     The  work  of  the  previous  June  showed  that  over 


f 


DEVELOPMENT    OF    THE   ARTISTIC   SENSE  17 

one  half  the  colors  used  by  the  boys  were  bright,  that  is,  not  grayed 
or  softened  in  any  way,  while  in  October  of  the  same  year  only 
three  tenths  of  the  colors  were  bright. 

A  corresponding  decrease  in  the  per  cent,  of  girls  who  made 
use  of  bright  colors,  also  appeared  in  the  ninth  year.  The  decrease 
for  the  nine-year-old  girls  from  June  to  October  was  twelve  per 
cent.,  while  for  the  boys  of  the  same  age  there  was  a  decrease  of 
twenty  per  cent.,  in  the  use  of  bright  colors. 

About  the  same  number  of  colors  was  used  by  both  sexes,  but 
the  girls  chose  more  as  they  grew  older,  while  the  boys  used  more  in 
the  four  earlier  years.  This  confirms  the  theory  that  the  attention 
of  girls  is  drawn  more  to  color  as  they  begin  to  think  of  matters 
of  dress,  while  as  the  boys  grew  older  they  left  the  color  for  pen 
and  ink  work  and  printing. 

Up  to  October  of  the  ninth  year,  the  data,  for  all  the  half-years 
showed  that  in  every  case  more  girls  used  bright  colors  than  hues. 
Commencing  with  that  October,  however,  the  reverse  was  true  for  all 
the  following  half-years.  More  girls  grayed  their  colors,  using  tints 
and  shades,  and  securing  more  artistic  effects.  This  was  not  true 
of  the  boys,  for  only  in  the  eleventh  and  thirteenth  years,  did 
the  majority  of  the  boys  use  grayed  tones  rather  than  brilliant  colors. 

As  to  particular  colors  used,  both  boys  and  girls  seemed  to  prefer 
red  and  green,  using  these  colors  not  only  for  flowers,  autumn 
leaves,  and  sprays  of  berries,  but  also  in  their  original  drawings. 
Blue  came  third  in  the  list  of  those  most  used  by  the  boys,  then 
yellow  and  orange,  while  violet  was  the  least  popular. 

The  colors  chosen  by  the  girls,  in  order  of  preference,  are  as  fol- 
lows: green,  red,  yellow,  blue,  violet  and  orange. 

For  the  boys,  the  highest  per  cent,  for  the  choice  of  red  came 
in  the  ninth  year,  for  green  in  the  seventh  and  eighth,  for  blue  in 
the  eighth,  while  the  six-year-olds  showed  the  highest  per  cent,  for 
violet.  As  this  last-named  color  was  so  little  used  by  the  children, 
I  did  not  attribute  the  choice  of  it  by  those  in  the  first  grade  to 
any  particular  liking  for  that  color.  Probably  the  high  average  was 
rather  due  to  the  promiscuous  use  of  all  the  colors  in  their  crayon 
boxes,  as  most  of  the  children  were  not  satisfied  unless  they  used 
them  all.  The  change  which  is  brought  about  in  this  direction  as  the 
child  progressed  through  the  grades,  is  clearly  shown  by  a  study 
of  the   development  of   individuals. 

In  the  lowest  grades  the  girls  used  red,  green  and  violet  more 
frequently  than  any  other  colors.  As  they  grew  older,  blue  came  to 
be  a  favorite,  then  yellow,  and  finally,  in  the  twelfth  year,  orange 
took  the  lead. 


18  STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND   LEARNING 

As  the  portfolios  were  made  twice  a  year,  it  was  possible  to  note 
the  development  from  October  to  June,  and  also  the  effect  of  the 
summer  vacation  upon  the  child's  ability  to  draw. 

In  June  more  bright  colors  and  more  hues  were  used  by  the 
children  of  all  grades  than  in  October. 

In  all  cases  the  neutrals  were  more  often  found  in  the  fall  port- 
folios than  in  those  made  in  the  spring.  A  possible  explanation  of 
this  might  be  that  after  vacation  the  children  do  not  have  as  many 
ideas  of  designs  to  be  worked  out  in  color.  After  having  used 
crayons  and  paints  more  or  less  during  the  year  they  are  more 
ready  to  apply  color  to  their  cover  designs  in  June.  At  the  ages  of 
twelve  and  thirteen,  where  the  pupils  had  more  decided  preferences 
and  could  remember  better  how  they  had  iLsed  their  materials,  they 
did  more  color  work  in  October  than  they  did  in  June. 

The  per  cents  for  the  use  of  neutrals  (ink,  gray,  black  and 
white,  etc.)  increase  at  a  fairly  uniform  rate,  until,  in  the  thirteenth 
year,  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  all  the  colors  used  by  both  sexes  are 
neutral  tints.  This  is  partly  explained  by  the  fact  that  in  the  higher 
grades  the  children  turned  much  more  to  the  use  of  lettering.  They 
seemed  to  develop  a  sense  of  the  fitness  of  things,  and  decorated 
their  covers  with  appropriate  designs,  and  with  printing,  instead 
of  the  various  objects  which  were  characteristic  of  their  earlier  years. 

With  the  boys,  the  use  of  neutral  mediums  had  been  steadily  in- 
creasing up  to  the  ninth  year,  but  then,  in  October,  the  average 
showed  a  jump  of  from  thirty-five  to  fi,fty-six  per  cent.  The  per 
cents  then  continuel  to  increase  until,  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  we 
find  all  the  boys  using  these  materials  in  preference  to  color. 

Girls,  as  well  as  boys,  selected  neutral  mediums  in  the  upper 
grades,  though  as  has  been  stated,  the  girls  still  clung  to  the  use 
of  color,  while  the  boys  dropped  it  somewhat  as  they  grew  older. 

II 

Regarding  the  objects  represented  in  the  decoration  of  the  port- 
folios, the  curves  for  both  sexes  showed,  as  the  child  progressed 
through  the  grades,  a  decided  increase  in  the  use  of  models  from 
nature.  In  studying  the  statistics  I  found  that  the  October  of 
the  ninth  year,  which  was  mentioned  before,  marked  a  drop  in  the 
per  cent,  of  nature  forms  drawn  by  the  boys.  It  might  be  inferred 
that  this  caused  the  decrease  in  the  use  of  brilliant  colors.  After 
the  drop  the  average  per  cent;  remained  about  the  same  in  both  cases, 
never  returning  to  the  higher  figure.  The  girls  also  used  nature 
forms  less  after  they  reached  the  ninth  year.  There  was,  perhaps, 
a  little  higher  average  for  the  use  of  nature  specimens  in  June  than 
in  October. 


DEVELOPMENT    OF    THE   ARTISTIC   SENSE  19 

Geometric  forms,  such  as  squares,  circles  and  triangles,  appeared 
in  nearly  half  of  the  boys'  portfolios  in  the  two  lowest  grades, 
while  in  the  eighth  grade,  none  were  used.  This  choice  in  the  first 
years  of  school-life  was  probably  due  to  the  daily  use  of  cardboard 
forms  for  "busy  work." 

In  general,  not  as  many  girls  as  boys  made  use  of  the  circles, 
squares  and  other  precise  forms,  bvit  the  per  cent,  of  those  who  did 
use  them  decreased  at  about  the  same  rate  for  both  sexes.  One  of 
the  girls'  papers  showed  a  pretty  arrangement  of  diamonds  and 
circles  in  a  border  effect. 

Decorations  and  designs  made  up  from  drawings  of  things  asso- 
ciated with  the  child's  life  and  work  were  a  study  in  themselves. 
They  varied  in  the  different  grades  from  houses  and  steam-engines 
in  the  lower,  to  Greek  frets  and  lotus-flower  borders,  in  the  higher 
classes.  This  style  of  design  gives  more  scope  for  originality,  and  I 
found  that  the  children  took  the  associated  objects  to  draw  from 
more  as  they  grew  older,  until  at  the  age  of  thirteen  nearly  half 
the  boys  and  a  correspondingly  large  per  cent,  of  the  girls  chose  this 
method  of  decoration.  Through  all  the  grades,  the  girls  drew  more 
associated  objects  than  did  the  boys. 

The  October  designs  show^ed  more  of  this  kind  of  work.  Some- 
times they  were  related  to  activities  of  the  suiAmer,  such  as  games, 
boating,  seashore  amusements  and  the  like.  In  June  I  noticed 
flags,  wreaths  and  other  decorations  connected  with  Memorial  Day. 
But  even  this  tendency  did  not  bring  the  average  for  associated 
objects  up  as  high  as  it  was  in  October. 

For  the  boys,  the  highest  per  cents  for  the  lettering  were  in  June 
of  the  eleventh  and  thirteenth  years,  but  in  October  of  the  eleventh 
year  there  was  a  decrease  of  nearly  forty  per  cent.,  and  in  October 
of  the  thirteenth  year  there  was  a  decrease  of  thirty-four  per  cent. 
In  fact,  the  curve  for  the  lettering  was  very  irregular. 

The  girl's  portfolios  for  the  last  two  years  showed  that  very- 
many  of  them  selected  lettering  in  preference  to  any  other  form  of 
decoration.  Indeed,  in  the  thirteenth  year  three  fourths  of  all  the 
children  printed  on  their  covers.  One  was  very  neatly  done  in 
a  beautiful  tone  of  brown,  with  a  fine  line  of  bright  orange  around 
the  letters  in  the  words  "Portfolio  of  My  Best  Work."  Below  were 
painted  two  books  and  at  the  very  bottom  the  girl's  initials  in  a 
monogram. 

Ill 

The  rank  for  both  boys  and  girls  grew  steadily  higher  till  at  the 
age  of  thirteen  very  few  were  marked  C.  The  choice  of  materials 
and  subjects  probably  had  some  effect  upon  the  rank,  as  most  of 


>f  %^. 


20  STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND    LEARNING 

the  printing  was  excellent,  while  the  flowers  so  often  drawn  on 
the  covers  by  the  lower  grade  pupils  were  not  in  many  cases  deserv- 
ing of  any  higher  mark  than  C. 

However,  the  average  rank  did  not  increase  in  excellence  as  reg- 
ularly as  one  would  expect  from  the  growing  power  of  drawing 
which  proper  training  in  the  grades  should  bring.  I  attributed  this 
variation  in  rank  somewhat  to  a  fact  which  was  corroborated  by  the 
individual  studies,  namely,  that  each  half-year  many  of  the  children 
attempted  something  new  which  was  as  hard  for  them  as  that  which 
they  had  done  the  year  before.  If  at  every  test  they  had  tried  the 
same  thing,  doubtless  the  rank  would  have  been  bettered  accordingly. 

One  thing  is  to  be  noted  in  the  per  cents  of  those  whose  covers 
ranked  excellent.  In  every  case,  with  the  exception  of  the  six- 
year-olds,  the  per  cent,  of  boys  marked  A  was  higher  in  June  than 
in  either  the  previous  or  the  following  October.  For  the  girls,  the 
per  cent,  marked  A  was  higher  in  the  fall  for  four  different  years. 
This  uniform  change  in  rank  from  spring  to  fall  would  seem  to 
indicate  an  increase  of  ability  during  the  school  year  and  a  loss  of  it 
during  the  summer.  Taken  all  together  the  boys  received  better 
marks  than  the  girls. 

One  significant  fact  was  noticeable  throughout  the  work.  Both 
sexes  show  much  greater  similarity  of  choice  in  the  earlier  years  than 
they  do  later  on  in  their  school-life.  In  the  higher  grades  the  in- 
dividuality becomes  more  marked,  and  there  is  a  greater  diversity 
of  selection. 

Another  fact  is  perhaps  worthy  of  notice.  The  age  of  nine, 
for  both  sexes,  marks  a  change  in  the  per  cents  in  several  particulars. 
This  may  be  due  to  the  subjects  included  in  the  drawing-course  at 
this  time,  or  may  be  due  to  the  natural  development  of  the  child  at 
this  period. 

Some  of  the  general  truths  brought  out  by  a  study  of  these  covers 
might  be  applied  to  the  teaching  of  drawing  in  the  grades. 

Interest  is  an  important  factor  in  drawing.  Many  principles 
which  are  sometimes  taught  in  abstract  ways,  could  be  made  more 
instructive  if  presented  in  connection  with  things  associated  with 
the  child's  life  and  pastimes. 

Children  have  a  natural  love  for  bright  colors,  but  during  the 
early  years  a  child  needs  training  in  color  perception,  more  es- 
pecially regarding  combinations  of  color;  they  may  also  be  led  to 
prefer  the  softer  tones  to  the  very  brilliant  colors. 

They  should  be  given  only  one  or  two  colors,  to  use  at  one  time, 
thus  avoiding  poor  combinations.     The  use  and  effectiveness  of  neu- 


DEVELOPMENT    OF    THE   ARTISTIC   SENSE  21 

trals  may  be  taught  early  by  giving  the  pupil  one  bright  color  to  be 
combined  with  black,  white  or  gray. 

Pupils  in  the  higher  grades  should  be  led  to  an  appreciation  of 
the  possibilities  of  color,  and  encouraged  to  choose  this  medium  for 
original  work,  as  well  as  the  pen  and  ink  or  pencil.     The  printing 

Perceat     I  2  3  ^  S'  C>  7  S  9  /o  //  /2/3  /^  ^ /^ // /^ 

EoTH  Sexes 

Orange    «_____ 

Yellow     «_i^________^_^. 

Blue        __^___«_^«««_ 
Violet      


lea 

Orfltnge 
Yell  ow 
Green 
Blue 
Violet 


Rei 

Ora.Tu?€ 

Yellow 

Green 

Blu,e 

Violet 


Boys 


Girls 


Fig.  4.     Line  Chart  showing  Per  Cent,  of  Various  Colors  used  in  all  the 
Designs  taken  together. 

may  be  made  very  effective  in  color  and  with  training  the  child  may 
learn  to  delight  in  its  use. 

Little  children  may  learn  how  to  make  border  and  surface  de- 
signs by  the  use  of  common  everyday  forms.  This  later  shows  its 
influence  and  effect  on  the  space  divisions  and  rhythms  of  the 
original  designs  taken  up  in  the  higher  grades. 

A  review  in  September  of  the  principles  of  drawing  taught  the 
year  before  is  necessary  as  the  children  do  poorer  work  and  apply 
their  knowledge  to  less  advantage  in  October  than  in  June. 


22 


STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND    LEARNING 


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DEVELOPMENT    OF    THE    ARTISTIC   SENSE  23 


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24  STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND    LEARNING 

Editor's  Comment.— The  discussion  of  the  above  data  is  so  com- 
plete and  clear  that  further  explanation  is  unnecessary.  It  is  worth 
while,  however,  to  emphasize  the  value  of  such  data  of  which  as  yet 
little  has  been  collected  or  published.  The  children  being  entirely 
free  from  the  constraint  of  authority,  but  with  a  motive  to  do  their 
best,  chose  and  executed  according  to  their  own  ideas,  as  influenced 
of  course  by  training,  special  events,  and  the  example  of  com- 
panions. Since  the  tables  are  based  largely  upon  the  work  of  the 
same  children  from  year  to  year  they  are  good  indications  of  the 
way  in  which  the  artistic  sense  and  ability  develop  in  individual 
children  under  the  influences  to  which  those  children  were  subjected. 
The  development  of  a  science  of  education  would  be  greatly  helped 
by  giving  pupils  an  opportunity  and  motive  to  freely  do  work 
according  to  their  own  ideas  in  the  varioLis  lines  of  school  work,  and 
preserving  such  work  year  after  year  as  data  for  determining  just 
how  children  do  develop  in  interest  and  effective  power  under  the 
influence  of  a  given  school  system  and  the  social  conditions  of  the 
locality.  Boxes  for  the  preservation  and  alphabetical  filing  of  such 
records  can  be  made  at  an  expense  of  not  over  five  dollars  per 
hundred,  and  if  the  school  population  is  stable,  the  labor  of  filing 
the  papers  is  not  excessive.  In  our  own  schools  the  labor  of  keeping 
the  files  was  great  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  complete  papers 
obtained,  because  pupils  frequently  changed  from  our  district  to 
other  parts  of  the  city.  If  such  records  were  kept,  there  are  plenty 
of  specialists  who  would  be  glad  to  work  up  the  data. 


i 


THESIS   V 

Development  op  Penmanship 

By  Grace  Emogene  Stockvsteli, 

Thesis. — My  interest  in  this  study  lies  in  the  importance  of  legible 
writing  as  a  means  of  expression.  My  aim  is  to  find  the  changes  that 
occur  from  year  to  year  during  school  life. 

Through  the  statistics  and  facts  I  have  gained  I  hope  to  present 
the  changes  that  occur,  both  general  and  individual,  and  yearly  and 
half  yearly.  In  gathering  these  records,  I  had  an  excellent  oppor- 
tunity, for  the  children  of  the  Edgerly  school  select  specimens  of 
their  best  work  which  they  would  like  to  have  preserved,  each  Oc- 
tober, one  month  after  school  has  begun,  and  each  June — one  month 
before  school  closes.  Thus  in  many  cases,  there  are  complete  sets  of 
each  child's  writing  selected  at  half  yearly  periods  from  the  second 
through  the  eighth  grades. 

I  classified  the  writing  of  the  pupils  as  to  general  appearance, 
slant  regularity,  neatness,  and  individual  letters,  grading  them  as 
excellent,  good,  poor  or  very  poor. 

In  all  there  were  ninety-eight  sets  of  which  the  greater  number 
were  complete  from  October,  1902,  to  October,  1906,  thus  giving  four 
June  records  and  four  October  records.  A  few  were  incomplete  be- 
cause the  child  was  absent  at  the  time  of  selection;  others  because 
the  child  did  not  enter  at  the  lowest  grade  or  left  before  he  reached 
the  higher  grades. 

The  statistics  gathered  from  these  records  are  reasonably  ac- 
curate. The  fact  that  the  records  were  not  of  special  writing  lessons 
but  of  language  or  spelling  work,  and  that  the  child  himself  chose 
what  he  considered  a  specimen  of  his  best  work,  makes  them  of 
special  value. 

It  must  be  taken  into  consideration  that  the  work  was  done  under 
conditions  impossible  to  render  exactly  similar,  and  this  is  the  cause 
of  any  slight  inaccuracy  that  may  appear  in  the  records. 

A  great  deal  depends  upon  the  teacher,  the  special  teacher  for 
each  different  year  undoubtedly  caused  a  difference  in  the  strength 
of  the  motive  to  do  good  work. 

The  first  comparison  was  made  of  the  records  from  October  to 
June  embracing  the  period  of  time  spent  by  the  children  in  the 
school. 

The  results  show  that  in  general  appearance  and  regularity,  the 

25 


26 


STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND    LEARNING 


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I 


DEVELOPMENT   OF   PENMANSHIP  27 

greatest  number  improve,  a  second  class  remain  the  same,  while  a 
very  few  lose.  In  the  slant  of  the  writing  much  the  greatest  num- 
ber retain  the  same  slant,  about  one  half  of  the  rest  improve,  that  is, 
bring  the  slope  of  their  letters  nearer  a  recognized  form,  while  nearly 
as  many  lose,  that  is,  fall  away  from  the  standard  slope,  sometimes 
sloping  their  letters  both  right  and  left.  In  neatness  and  formation 
of  individual  letters,  the  greatest  number  remained  the  same,  nearly 
as  many  improved,  while  a  few  lost. 

The  next  comparison  was  from  June  to  October,  the  period  of 
time  spent  mostly  in  summer  vacation. 

These  results  show  that  in  every  respect,  in  general  appearance, 
slant,  regularity,  neatness,  and  individual  letters,  there  is  a  stand- 
still, more  than  one  half  remaining  the  same,  while  of  the  rest  few 
more  gain  than  lose. 

I  then  made  yearly  comparisons  from  October  to  October  and 
June  to  June.  In  the  October  to  October  comparisons,  it  must  be 
noted  that  the  children  received  their  practice  in  writing  before  the 
summer  vacation  and  that  the  specimens  of  writing  were  obtained 
after  the  summer  vacation. 

In  general  appearance  the  greatest  number  improved,  a  close 
second  remained  the  same,  a  very  few  lost. 

In  slant  the  greatest  number  remained  the  same,  nearly  as  many 
improved,  a  few  lost. 

In  regularity  the  greatest  number  improved,  nearly  as  many  re- 
mained the  same,  a  few  lost. 

In  neatness  a  large  proportion  improved,  nearly  as  many  re- 
mained the  same,  a  very  few  lost. 

As  to  individual  letters  nearly  equal  numbers  improved  and  re- 
mained the  same,  a  few  lost. 

The  next  comparison  was  of  the  June  to  June  records.  In  this 
case  the  summer  vacation  came  before  the  practice  and  the  specimens 
of  writing  were  selected  after  a  year  of  work. 

This  time  in  general  appearance  and  regularity  the  greatest 
number  improved,  those  who  remained  the  same  came  a  close  second 
and  a  few  lost. 

In  slant  and  neatness  the  greatest  number  remained  the  same, 
nearly  as  many  improved  and  a  few  lost. 

In  individual  letters  nearly  equal  numbers  improved  and  re- 
mained the  same  and  a  few  lost. 

I  then  made  individual  comparisons  from  year  to  year,  classing 
the  girls  and  boys  separately.  These  comparisons  noted  whether  the 
writer  remained  constant  or  lost  and  the  age  at  which  he  remained 
constant  or  lost. 


28 


STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND   LEARNING 


TABLE    VIII 

Changes  in  Wbiting 

Girls'  Individual  Yeaely  Compaeisons 


Age 

Number  of  comparisons 

r  Number 
General  appearance  ^  p^^  ^^^^_ 


Constant 

7  7i      8     8J     9 

8  22  40  65  78 

112     6 
4     2 


Slant 


[Number 
(Per  cent. 

,     .,     (Number 
Regularity  |p^^  cent. 

^     ,  f  Number 

Neatness     -i  -^  , 

(^Per  cent. 

f  Number 


Individual  letters 


(Per  cent.  12 


9J    10 
88  84 

10  9 

11  10 

10  14 

11  16 
6  12 
6  14 
2  9 
2  10 
4  12 
4  14 


lOJ  11 
80  79 

11  14 
13  17 

15  7 
18  8 
13   11 

16  13 
13  16 
16  20 
10  15 

12  19 


Hi    12    12A    13    13J 


51  41  29  24 
16     9     5     1 


31  21   17 
6     5     5 

12  17 

7     6 


10 
1 

10 
1 


11 
14 
27  17  20     8 

15  16     5     5 
29  39   17  20 

16  10     4 
31  24  13 


8  10 
2  1 
8  10 
5     1 

10 
1 

10 


Age 

Number  of  comparisons 

^  ,  (Number 

General  appearance  < 

(Number 
Slant   -{ -r,  , 

I^Per  cent. 

Number 

Per  cent. 

[Number 

(Per  cent. 

(Number 

[Per  cent. 


Negative 

7  7|      8     8^ 

8  22  40  65 

2     2 


9     9J 


Regularity  } 


Neatness 


Individual  letters 


14  11 
17  12 


10    lOJ  11 

84  80  79 

1     1  5 

1  6 

12  14 

15  17 

1  8 


1 
10 
11 
2 
2 
5 
5 
2 
2 


llj 

51 
5 
9 
7 

13 
6 

11 
3 
5 
7 

13 


12    12i    13    13J 
41  29'  24  10 


In  the  girls'  comparisons  I  found  the  following  results:  First, 
those  who  remained  constant.  In  general  appearance  of  the  writing 
the  greatest  per  cent,  remained  constant  at  eleven  and  one  half  years. 
The  standstill  began  at  nine  and  one  half  and  lasted  until  twelve  and 
one  half. 

In  slant  the  highest  per  cent,  remained  constant  at  twelve  years. 
The  standstill  began  at  nine  and  one  half  years  and  lasted  until 
twelve  and  one  half. 

In  regularity  the  greatest  per  cent,  came  to  a  standstill  at  eleven 
and  one  half  years.  The  standstill  began  at  ten  and  lasted  until 
twelve  and  one  half. 

In  neatness  the  standstill  began  at  ten  and  lasted  until  twelve 
and  one  half  while  the  highest  per  cent,  came  at  the  age  of  twelve. 

So  it  can  be  seen  that  in  general,  in  the  case  of  the  girls,  the 
majority  stop  their  development  of  writing  at  about  nine  and  one 


I 


DEVELOPMENT    OF   PENMANSHIP  29 

TABLE    IX 

Changes  in  Writing 

Boys'  Individual  Yeably  Compaeisons 

Constant 

Age       7  7i   8   8^  9   9J  10  lOi  11  llj  12  12i  13  13*  14 

Number  of  comparisons  8  22  40  65  78  88  84  80  79  51  41  29  24  lo"    8 

[Number      11     16  10     69  11   10     97973 
General  appearance  |  ^^^  ^^^^    ^2     4     2     9  12     6  10  13  12  17  17  31  29  30 

(-Number  247  10     9  13     55  11     6835 

Slant  |p^^  ^^^^  g     g     8  11  10  16     6     9  26  20  33  30  62 

(Number      22  6  10     6  10     7766634 

Regularityjp^^^^^^   2^     9  9  12     6  11     8     8  11  14  20  12  40 

(Number  1  3     6     7  11  14  11     9  13  10     5     3 

Neatness     |p^^  ^^^^  ^  4     7     7  13  17   13  12  31  30  20  30 

j  Number      2216  10     69  10  13     695341 
Individual  letters     |p^^  ^^^^   25     9     2     9  12     6  10  12  16  11  21  17  12  40  12 

Negative 

Age  7     7i     8      8A     9      9^    10     lOJ    11    lU    12    12i    13    13i    14 

Number  of  comparisons  8  22  40  65  78  88  84  80  79  51  41  29"  24  lo'    8 

(Number  1  12     14     6     16     2     3     1 

General  appearance  I  p^^  ^^^^  2  1     2     1     5     7     1  14     6  12  10 

[Number       12258997464411 
Slant  |p^^  ^^^^    j2     9     5     7  10  10  10  16     5  11     9  13     4  10 

^       ,     .,     (Number  1  354572253 

Regularity  ■< 


Neatness 
Individual  letters 


Per  cent.  2  3546834  17   12 

(Number  11  254435144 

(Per  cent.  42  25453923   16 

(Number  1  1433442342 

[Per  cent.  2  1     4     3     3     5     7     4  10  16  20 


half  years  of  age;  the  number  of  those  who  stop  developing  grad- 
ually increasing  until  the  ages  of  eleven  and  one  half  and  twelve 
when  the  per  cent,  is  largest,  then  decreasing  in  number  until  the 
standstill  is  virtually  ended  at  twelve  and  one  half  or  thirteen. 

For  those  girls  who  lost,  the  highest  per  cents  came  at  these  ages 
— in  general  appearance  at  eleven  and  one  half,  the  losses  coming 
between  eight  and  twelve  and  one  half ;  in  slant — at  nine  and  eleven, 
the  losses  coming  between  nine  and  twelve  and  one  half ;  in  regularity 
at  eleven  and  one  half,  the  losses  coming  between  eleven  and  twelve 
and  one  half;  in  neatness  at  eleven,  the  losses  coming  between  ten  and 
eleven  and  one  half ;  in  individual  letters  at  eleven  and  one  half,  the 
losses  coming  between  nine  and  one  half  and  twelve. 

In  general  the  greatest  per  cent,  of  girls  lost  at  the  ages  of  eleven 
and  eleven  and  one  half,  the  losses  coming  between  the  ages  of  nine 
and  twelve  and  one  half. 


5 


30  STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND   LEARNING 

So  it  can  be  seen  that  between  the  ages  of  nine  and  twelve  and 
one  half  girls  either  lose  or  come  to  a  standstill  in  the  development 
of  writing. 

Comparing  the  boys'  records  with  those  of  the  girls,  I  find  that 
while  a  large  per  cent,  of  both  either  lose  or  come  to  a  standstill  at 
about  nine  years  of  age,  that  period  is  ended  with  the  girls  at  about 
twelve  and  one  half,  and  improvement  begins  again  while  the  boys 
continue  longer  in  their  standstill  or  losses.  Moreover  the  per  cent, 
of  girls  who  lose  or  remain  the  same  is  much  smaller  than  the  per 
cent,  of  boys. 

Probably  this  is  due  partly  to  the  fact  that  girls  are  naturally 
more  painstaking  in  their  work  than  the  average  boy;  also  to  the 
finer  coordination  in  the  girls'  muscles  than  in  the  boys.  But  this 
subject  will  be  taken  up  later. 

The  fact  that  after  the  age  of  twelve  and  one  half  the  girls  again 
show  signs  of  improvement  while  the  boys  continue  to  lose  or  remain 
the  same  is  explained  in  this  way ;  as  girls  grow  older  they  write  well 
because  good  writing  is  asked  for  and  praised  while  boys  follow  their 
other  interests  and  cease  in  their  efforts  for  improvement. 

In  order  to  understand  fully  the  difficulties  a  child  has  to  over- 
come, and  the  full  significance  of  his  development  of  this  process,  it 
is  necessary  to  go  back  to  fundamental  principles. 

Writing  involves  complex  muscular  movements.  All  the  differ- 
ent factors  fit  each  other  perfectly.  Children 's  nerve  centers  are  far 
from  perfectly  developed,  so  it  follows  that  the  movements  of  the 
muscles  do  not  cooperate  perfectly,  and  we  who  have  not  known  this 
have  sometimes  wondered  why  children  can  not  seem  to  direct  their 
movements  in  writing. 

Writing  must  be  developed  by  trial  after  trial  with  the  mind  con- 
centrated upon  the  result  obtained  and  not  upon  the  movement  itself. 

It  should  be  realized  that  the  development  of  coordinated  move- 
ments is  the  important  point  in  teaching  a  child  to  write,  and  not 
merely  some  particular  method. 

At  first  the  child's  movement  is  not  easy.  His  attention  is  not 
free  for  he  has  to  study  the  form  of  the  letters.  His  movements  are 
cramped  and  jerky  and  lack  organization.  This  irregularity  refers 
back  to  lack  of  organization  in  the  brain. 

That  a  regular  coordinated  movement  of  the  muscles  is  necessary 
for  good  writing  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  after  the  summer  vacation, 
during  which  these  movements  have  ceased,  there  is  comparatively 
far  less  improvement  than  after  the  year  of  work  and  practice.  But 
it  is  wonderful  that  loss  after  vacation  is  not  greater  than  it  is,  for 
the  majority  hold  their  own  and  more  improve  than  lose. 


I 


DEVELOPMENT    OF   PENMANSHIP  31 

We  may  explain  this  perhaps  by  the  fact  that  the  rest  and  the 
recreation  of  a  vacation  gives  new  vigor  to  the  wearied  muscles  even 
as  the  lack  of  coordinated  movements  takes  away  from  their  regu- 
larity. 

Editor's  Comment. — Educationally  these  results  are  important  in 
that  they  confirm  the  common  opinion  of  teachers  that  after  a  certain 
age  children  usually  cease  to  improve  and  perhaps  deteriorate  in 
their  writing,  and  emphasize  the  importance  of  determining  just  why 
this  is.  In  my  opinion,  school  methods  are  largely,  but  not  wholly, 
responsible.  In  the  early  stage  of  writing  only  are  the  children 
learning  the  visual  forms  of  letters,  while  in  the  later  stages  they  are 
forming  motor  habits.  Unfortunately  teachers  have  failed  to  recog- 
nize clearly  these  two  phases  of  learning  to  write,  and  they  have  also 
failed  to  realize  that  a  habit  formed  under  these  conditions  of  copy- 
book practice  will  almost  surely  not  carry  over  and  function  under 
the  condition  of  expressing  thought  while  writing. 

On  the  theoretical  side  the  data  are  interesting  as  indicating  what 
is  also  suggested  by  several  other  studies  of  this  series,  i.  e.,  that  there 
is  a  decrease  or  increase  in  the  rate  of  development  in  various  forms 
of  physiological  and  mental  functioning  correlated  more  or  less 
closely  with  the  rate  of  growth  of  boys  and  girls  in  height  and 
weight.  Perhaps,  as  claimed  by  C.  W.  Crampton  in  a  recent  num- 
ber of  the  Psychological  Clinic,  these  changes  are  not  dependent 
upon  growth,  but  like  growth  are  indications  of  the  degree  of  physio- 
logical maturity  in  relation  to  the  attainment  of  pubescence. 


THESIS  VI 

The  Development  op  Language 
By  Elizabeth  S.  Smith 

The  original  papers  upon  which  this  study  was  based  were  not 
sufficiently  numerous  and  uniform  to  permit  the  drawing  of  general 
conclusions  of  value  regarding  sentence  structure,  length  of  sentence, 
etc.     Hence,  they  are  not  printed. 


32 


THESIS  VII 

Characteristics  of  Children  as  Viewed  by  Teachers 
By  IMabel  Josephixe  Spalter 

Editor's  Explanation. — This  thesis  is  based  upon  reports  of 
teachers,  in  training,  regarding  the  conduct,  ability,  success  in 
studies  and  most  marked  characteristics,  of  individual  children. 

Thesis. — My  main  thought  in  this  thesis  is  to  find  out  to  what 
extent  different  teachers  judge  the  same  children  in  the  same  way, 
and,  where  a  difference  of  opinion  occurs,  to  what  it  is  due. 

Under  conduct,  I  used  good,  fair,  and  poor,  as  the  three  heads 
under  which  to  correlate  the  one  hundred  and  eighty-three  papers. 
There  were  in  the  majority  of  cases  from  three  to  six  reports  con- 
cerning each  child,  so  my  standard  of  "complete  correlation"  was 
that  every  teacher  had  judged  the  child  in  the  same  way;  and  of 
"incomplete  correlation"  that  some  difference  in  the  opinion  of  the 
teachers  was  shown,  as  where,  perhaps,  two  reports  out  of  three 
agreed,  or  three  reports  out  of  four  or  five. 

The  reports  upon  "Means  of  Influence"  were  very  hard  to 
classify,  owing  to  the  many  different  ways  in  which  teachers  seek  to 
influence  their  pupils.  Praise  and  affection  were  used  most  fre- 
quently by  teachers. 

It  was  especially  hard  to  classify  the  characteristics  of  children. 

The  most  prominent  characteristics  noticed  with  the  boys  were 
"self  control,"  "an  interest  in  work,"  "a  desire  to  learn,"  "restless- 
ness," "stubbornness"  and  "pleasantness,"  while  among  the  girls 
"shyness,"  "willingness"  and  "inattention"  prevailed.  The  fol- 
lowing are  typical  individual  records. 

B.  F. 

In  the  first  grade  this  boy  seemed  shy  and  sneaky,  proved  him- 
self untrustworthy  and  would  not  try  to  do  w^ell. 

In  the  second  grade  he  still  continued  to  be  mischievous,  sly  and 
lazy. 

He  is  now  in  the  third  grade  and  still  has  the  spirit  of  contrari- 
ness, but  many  times  does  little  helpful  things. 

A.  G. 

This  boy  in  the  lower  grades  was  inclined  to  be  mischievous, 
needed  a  firm  hand  and  could  only  be  influenced  by  an  interest  in 

33 


34  STUDIES   IN   DEVELOPMENT   AND   LEARNING 

his  work.    Now  he  is  doing  much  better,  by  having  been  made  an 
officer  in  the  school  where  self  government  is  prominent. 

E.  M. 

This  little  girl  in  the  first  grade  was  very  slow  in  her  work,  but 
thought  herself  quite  smart  and  always  wanted  to  be  first  without 
any  effort.  She  was  out  a  great  deal  from  school  because  of  sick- 
ness and  perhaps  that  partially  accounts  for  her  being  slow  in  her 
work. 

In  the  second  grade  she  was  slow  in  her  work  but  always  wanting 
to  be  first. 

Now  in  the  third  grade  she  is  very  sensitive,  and  easily  discour- 
aged if  reprimanded  for  anything,  however  slight. 

E.  F. 

One  teacher  thought  this  girl  silly,  a  giggler,  but  earnest  in 
her  work,  while  the  next  teacher  attributed  her  silliness  to  ner- 
vousness. 

M.  M. 

In  the  lower  grades  this  girl  was  thought  to  be  very  lazy  and 
idle  but  in  the  fifth  grade  the  teacher  reported  her  as  learning 
very  easily  but  lacking  persistence  which  perhaps  accounts  for  her 
seeming  idleness. 

L.  H. 

This  boy  was  very  silly  and  giggled  incessantly.  One  teacher  re- 
ported that  this  giggling  had  ceased  but  the  next  teacher  thought  en- 
vironment had  caused  the  laughter,  for  the  lad  suddenly  showed  a 
natural  ability  which  had  lain  dormant  and  was  on  the  alert,  showing 
great  improvement  in  all  his  work. 

It  would  seem  from  these  statements  that  the  teachers  appealed 
to  different  qualities  which  called  forth  various  actions  and  responses 
from  the  children. 

I  compared  the  work  of  nine  children  who  had  complete  corre- 
lation and  three  with  whom  there  was  no  correlation  in  different 
subjects. 

In  composition  work  I  found  that  only  one  of  the  nine  showed 
a  decrease  in  the  standing  of  her  work,  and  of  the  three  the  standing 
was  variable — first  a  decrease,  then  increase,  and  decrease  again. 

In  the  perception  motor  test  six  out  of  the  nine,  having  complete 
correlation,  did  it  in  a  shorter  time  each  year  but  the  remaining  three 
were  irregular— one  year  it  took  a  shorter  time  and  then  perhaps 
the  next  year  a  longer  time.     From  the  three  with  whom  no  correla- 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF  CHILDREN  AS  VIEWED  BY  TEACHERS     35 


tion  was  found  only  one  could  shorten  the  time  each  year  while 
the  other  two  lengthened  the  time  one  year  and  shortened  it  the  next. 

In  physical  measurements  one  of  the  nine  and  one  of  the  three 
showed  uneven  development. 

In  writing  only  one  of  the  nine  did  not  show  progress— the  others 
went  from  poor  to  either  good  or  excellent.  With  the  three,  whose 
correlation  was  incomplete,  progress  was  also  shown. 

In  auditory  and  visual  tests  of  memory  all  but  one  of  the  nine 
and  one  of  the  three  showed  an  increase  in  ability  to  remember  dic- 
tation. 

From  these  papers  I  should  say  that  the  teachers  do  judge  chil- 
dren, to  a  great  extent,  in  the  same  way,  and  from  the  preceding 
reports  I  should  think  that  they  judge  them  quite  correctly. 

There  is  more  complete  correlation  with  boys  than  with  girls. 

I  talked  with  the  different  supervisors  about  different  children 
and  found  that  a  child  with  perfect  physical  growth  showed  com- 
plete correlation  oftener  than  a  child  whose  growth  was  backward 
or  stunted. 

TABLE    X 

COBBELATION  IN  THE  REPORTS  OF  SUCCESSIVE  TEACHERS  OF  THE  SAME  CHILDREN 

Girls 


Grades 
Conduct, 
Influence, 
Ability, 
Good  in  what, 
Poor  in  what. 
Characteristic, 


Conduct, 


No.  of  Reports 
12      3      4       5     6 

12  16  23  19  16  23 
35     8     3     2 

18  21  22  20  28     3 

13  23  14     7     2  10 
26  19     4     5 

20  28  29     8     9     2 


5     4  18  27   10  10 


Influence,  33  23  3  7  8 

Ability,  13  25  23  2  9  1 

Good  in  what,  20  24  16  13  16  3 

Poor  in  what,  29  20     6  12 

Characteristic,  17  25  14  3  6  4         11   16 


Complete 
No.  ^ 
46  42 
3  6 
34  33 
22  32 
16  29 

12  12 

Boys 

26  35 

5     6 

38  52 

20  21 

13  19 


More 
than  3^ 
No-     li 
33  30 

1  2 
33  25 
13  18 

7   12 

4     4 


23  31 

1     1 

13  17 

18   17 

3     4 

7   10 


Less 
than  % 
No.  ^ 
3  2 

3  2 
2  3 


5  6 
1  1 
5  6 


2  3 


None 
No.  ^ 
27  24 
44  91 
42  38 
32  46 
31  57 
80  83 


20  27 
67  90 
17  23 
54  58 
51  77 
49  71 


Total 
109 
48 
112 
69 
54 
96 


74 
74 
73 
92 
67 
69 


Editor's  Comment. — Data  of  this  character,  consisting  in  part  of 
reports  by  young  teachers  in  practice,  are  not  well  suited  to  statistical 
study;  but  some  of  the  individual  reports  are  interesting  and  the 
fact  that  in  general  children  about  whom  the  reports  of  teachers 
agree  are  more  likely  to  show  consistency  in  mental  and  physical 
tests  than  those  whose  reports  vary  from  year  to  year  is  very  sig- 
nificant. 


THESIS   VIII 

The  Curve  op  Learning 
By  Abbie  F.  Munn 
Editor's  Explanatmi.— This  experiment  for  studying  habit  for- 
mation was  devised  by  Professor  Lougb,  of  New  York  University, 
who  very  kindly  furnished  the  blanks  for  the  test.  (He  would  be 
glad  to  have  others  cooperate  in  the  same  test,  that  norms  for  prac- 
tice curves  may  be  established.) 

TEST    SHEET 

1.  TO  PESNI  DRMHCQLGBJKFA 

2.  P,  TKO  FGAESQNLI  DBRMHCJ 

3.  CFLSBGAPKHMRDI  NTEO  JQ 

4.  JANTBI  QRO  LEKPSMCGDFH 

5.  EJO  TDI  NSCHMKBGQAFKPL 

6.  TCEFADKO  QJRPI  GMSHI  NB 

7.  GBMSAHNTCI  O  PDKQEFLJR 

8.  HTI  SRKQLPMO  AGBFCENDJ 

9.  DGJMPSAEHKO  RBTFI  LNQG 
10.  KHO  FAGMJPEBQSRI  NDLCT 


KEY    SHEETS 

I 

II 

A— X 

A— 0 

B— U 

B— I 

C— F 

C— G 

D— L 

D— N 

E— Y 

E-^ 

F— M 

F— V 

G— B 

G— A 

H— W 

H— H 

I— Z 

I— D 

J— E 

J— R 

K— R 

K— E 

L— D 

I^-Z 

M— H 

M— W 

N— A 

N— B 

0— V 

0— M 

P— J 

P— Y 

Q— N 

Q— L 

R— G 

R— F 

S— I 

S— U 

T— 0 

T— X 

t 


The  material  for  the  test  consists  of  (1)  a  test  sheet  with  ten 

36 


TEE    CURVE    OF   LEARXIXG  37 

lines  of  letters  in  mixed  order,  and  (2)  a  key  sheet,  in  which  the 
twenty  letters  used  in  the  test  sheet  are  arranged  in  a  vertical  colunm 
and  opposite  each  is  printed  some  other  letter.  The  idea  of  the 
test  is  that  the  letters  in  the  second  column  of  the  key  sheet  are  to 
be  substituted  respectively  for  the  corresponding  letters  in  the  first 
column.  The  procedure  was  as  follows:  Only  one  line  of  the  test 
sheet  was  exposed  to  view  at  once.  A  blank  sheet  covered  all  the 
lines  below  the  line  in  use  at  any  moment,  and  the  lines  that  had 
already  been  used  were  folded  under  and  so  concealed.  The  key 
sheet  was  kept  in  sight  all  of  the  time.  Having  before  him  the  key 
sheet  and  the  first  line  of  the  test  sheet,  the  person  tested,  at  a  given 
signal,  began  writing  beneath  each  letter  of  the  test  sheet  the  letter 
corresponding  thereto  in  the  key  sheet ;  thus,  writing  X  beneath  each 
A  of  the  test  sheet,  U  beneath  each  B,  etc.  Having  no  previous  ac- 
quaintance with  the  key  sheet,  the  person  tested  had,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  experiment,  to  refer  continually  to  the  key  sheet  in  order 
to  determine  what  letter  to  write  beneath  each  letter  of  the  test 
sheet. 

As  soon  as  one  row  of  letters  was  written,  the  time  in  seconds  was 
recorded,  the  edge  of  the  sheet  upon  which  they  were  written  folded 
under,  the  second  row  of  letters  exposed,  and  the  experiment  con- 
tinued. Each  line  of  letters  is  called  a  "trial,"  and  the  ten  lines 
done  at  one  time  constitute  a  "test."  After  one  or  more  trials  the 
subject  notices  that  the  first  column  on  the  key  sheet  is  in  alpha- 
betical order  and  then  knows  just  where  to  look  for  the  required 
letter.  After  a  greater  or  less  amount  of  practice  most  of  them 
learned  also  what  letter  was  opposite  each  letter  of  the  alphabetical 
series  so  that  it  was  not  necessary  to  look  on  the  key  sheet  at  all. 
When  the  learning  was  parth'  complete,  a  few  students  wasted  time 
in  trying  to  think  what  letter  to  write  instead  of  looking  at  once  on 
the  second  sheet,  and  thus  took  a  longer  time  than  when  they  first 
began ;  but  this  was  not  a  general  source  of  irregularity. 

Directions  for  the  experiment  were  given  the  normal  school 
students  in  class  and  the  experiments  performed  in  their  rooms. 
They  were  asked  to  have  the  conditions  as  nearly  the  same  as  possible 
and  to  take  the  time  as  accurately  as  they  could  with  a  watch.  Most 
of  them  had  a  classmate  keep  the  time,  but  a  few  kept  it  themselves. 
The  "standard  series"  consisted  of  one  test  a  day,  at  the  same  time 
of  day,  but  several  groups  of  students  were  asked  to  take  more  tests, 
and  at  different  intervals,  as  is  indicated  in  detail  in  the  thesis.  Tests 
of  children  were  made  under  the  immediate  direction  of  ]\Iisses  Lane 
and  J\Iunn. 

In  order  to  study  interference  effects,  persons  who  had  already 


38  STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND    LEARNING 

practiced  with  key  sheet  I.  were  required  to  change  to  key  sheet  II. 

Thesis.— The  aim  of  this  study  was  to  find  a  standard  curve  of 
learning,  the  variations  in  this  curve  resulting  from  the  different 
methods  of  taking  the  tests ;  the  conditions  under  which  most  prog- 
ress was  attained  and  those  where  least  progress  was  made. 

As  a  means  for  this  investigation,  I  made  a  study  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  papers,  from  as  many  individuals,  showing  the  results 
of  a  habit  formation  experiment.  The  greater  part  of  these  papers 
were  received  from  normal  school  students,  all  women;  some  few 
however  were  obtained  from  children  of  a  third,  a  seventh  and  an 
eighth  grade. 

Each  individual,  with  a  few  exceptions  noted  below,  went  through 
a  series  of  twenty  tests,  each  "test,"  as  explained  above,  consisting 
of  ten  lines  or  ' '  trials. ' '  In  different  series,  the  tests  were  differently 
distributed  in  time.  The  individuals  participating  in  the  various 
practice  series,  mentioned  below,  were  in  all  cases  different  in- 
dividuals. 

The  first  group  comprises  individuals  who  took  one  test  a  day 
for  twenty  successive  days.  This  group  I  call  my  standard  or 
regular  series,  and  the  curve  of  learning  resulting  from  these  papers 
I  call  the  standard  or  regular  curve  of  learning. 

Fig.  5  represents  the  results  of  the  regular  series,  taken  by  twenty- 
three  normal  school  students.  On  this  chart  are  five  curves,  A,  B, 
C,  D,  E. 

Curve  A  represents  the  record  made  during  ten  trials  or  one 
test ;  curve  B  the  record  of  the  second  ten  trials  or  test  two ;  curve 
C  shows  the  records  of  the  first  trials  of  the  twenty  tests;  curve 
D  the  results  of  the  tenth  trials  of  the  twenty  tests;  curve  E  the 
averages  of  the  twenty  tests. 

Discussion  of  Regular  Series. 

Curve  A  shows  steady  gain  first  half,  little  gain  last  half; 
former  gain  6.8  seconds,  latter  gain  2.8  seconds — entire  gain  9 
seconds. 

Curve  B.  Here  the  gain  is  more  even,  the  first  and  second  halves 
of  curve  varjnng  little.     The  entire  gain  was  6.2  seconds. 

Curves  C  and  D  both  show  great  gain,  first  half  less  gain  toward 
the  end.     As  the  practice  continues,  the  rate  of  progress  diminishes 

Curve  E  is  the  important  curve  of  all,  for  it  shows  the  average 
of  all  the  tests.  The  total  gain  made  during  the  practice  was  28 
seconds,  the  gain  first  half  was  21  seconds,  gain  second  half  was 
7  seconds.     Gain  first  half  was  three  times  the  gain  of  second  half. 

Before  leaving  this  set  of  papers  it  may  be  of  interest  to  notice 
one  or  two  of  the  individual  papers.     For  this  study  I  chose  the 


TEE    CURVE    OF   LEARNING 


39 


two  papers  which  showed  the  most  marked  contrast,  one  the  paper 
of  the  individual  who  made  the  greatest  gain,  the  other  the  paper 
belonging  to  the  one  whose  gain  was  the  least.  Fig.  6  represents  the 
former  gains ;  Fig.  7  the  gains  of  the  latter. 

By  comparing  these  two  curves,  it  is  evident  that  the  natural 
ability  as  far  as  quickness  is  concerned  varied  greatly.  One  was 
extremely  slow  at  the  beginning  while  the  other  was  quick. 


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40 


STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND   LEARNING 


The  subject  who  was  the  slowest  in  doing  the  tests  at  the  beginning 
made  more  rapid  and  greater  gains  throughout  the  entire  series  than 
did  the  one  whose  first  test  was  done  in  the  least  time.  Fig.  6  also 
shows  that  the  limit  in  the  rate  of  progress  had  not  been  reached  by 
the  reagent  while  Fig.  7  shows  the  opposite  to  be  true.  The  gain  made 
by  the  reagent  whose  results  are  shown  on  Fig.  6  was  46.6  seconds, 


Fig.  6.     Individual  Making  the  Greatest  Gain. 


3.3  times  as  much  as  that  made  by  the  other  reagent  whose  gain  was 
13.2. 

After  the  first  five  or  six  trials  of  a  test  there  is  usually  a  loss  of 
a  second  or  two,  this  loss  however  is  frequently  made  up  by  the 
following  trial  and  almost  without  fail  before  the  end  of  the  test. 

The  longest  time  taken  by  any  individual  for  the  first  trial  was 
90  seconds,  the  shortest  time  was  30  seconds.  For  the  last  trial  the 
longest  time  was  35  seconds,  the  shortest  was  7  seconds. 


THE    CURVE    OF   LEARNING 


41 


Fig.  7.     Individual  Making  the  Least  Gain. 

Fig.  8  represents  the  results  of  one  of  the  special  series,  iu  which 
ten  tests  were  taken  one  Saturday  and  ten  on  the  Saturday  following. 
These  tests  were  taken  by  four  normal  school  students. 

This  curve  is  less  regular  than  the  curves  of  the  ' '  regular  series ' ' 
shown  in  Fig.  5,  but  there  are  no  great  gains  or  losses,  save  for 
the  one  loss  which  is  noticeable  between  the  two  periods  of  the  exer- 


FiG.  8.     Ten  Tests  a  Day,  on  Two  Days  a  Week  Apart. 


cise.     These  losses  too  are  not  permanent  for  by  the  second  test 
after  the  interval  they  are  more  than  reclaimed. 

From  these  curves  too  we  notice  that  the  greater  gains  are  near 
the  beginning  of  the  series,  that  as  the  practice  continues  the  gains 
decrease.  The  gains  made  throughout  all  these  curves  are  pretty 
uniform.  The  average  gain  made  during  the  entire  exercise  was 
20.7  seconds.  The  gain  the  first  half  was  14.4  seconds;  gain  last 
half  was  6.3  seconds. 


42 


STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND    LEARNING 


Here  we  find  the  gain  made  during  first  half  of  series  to  be  twice 
the  gain  of  the  second  half,  while  in  the  case  of  the  regular  series  the 
gain  in  the  first  half  was  three  times  the  gain  in  the  second  half. 

We  find  that  the  week's  interval  between  the  two  periods  of  prac- 
tice caused  a  slight  set-back  in  the  rate  of  speed  but  the  loss  was  only 
temporary  and  easily  regained. 

In  another  experiment,  a  series  of  17  "tests" — each  consisting 
of  10  lines  of  the  test  sheet — was  executed  on  the  same  day  and 
without  intermission  between  the  tests.  This  experiment  was  tried 
on  4  normal  school  students.     The  average  result  is  shown  in  Fig.  9. 


Fig.  9.     Seventeen  Tests  Without  Intermission. 

On  comparing  this  curve  with  that  of  the  "regular  series"  in 
Fig.  5,  we  find  them  alike  in  that  the  gains  are  in  both  instances 
near  the  beginning  of  the  series.  They  are  unlike  in  other  respects. 
The  curves  of  the  regular  series  are  even  and  gradual,  while  those 
of  the  continuous  practice  series  are  much  more  irregular. 

Gains,  Fig.  5  Gains,  Fig.  9 

Entire  gain   28  14.4 

Gain  in  first  half 21  17 

Gain  in  second  half 7  —  3    (loss) 

From  the  above  comparisons  it  can  readily  be  seen  that  the 
process  of  learning  gradually  counts  for  more  than  learning  quickly ; 
that  short  periods  of  practice  in  learning  are  more  effective  and  bene- 
ficial than  the  long  extended  ones. 

Fig.  10  shows  the  results  of  another  series,  in  which  five  tests  were 
taken  at  each  of  four  different  periods  on  the  same  day ;  there  being 
two  morning  periods  and  two  afternoon  periods.  Normal  school 
students  were  the  subjects  of  this  experiment. 


THE    CURVE    OF   LEARNING 


43 


The  curve  indicates  that  four  times  as  much  gain  was  made  dur- 
ing the  first  half  of  this  series  as  in  the  last  half.  The  gain  of  the 
first  half  was  17  seconds  while  that  of  the  last  was  but  4  seconds, 
making  the  entire  gain  21  seconds. 

From  the  perusal  of  this  chart  one  new  significant  point  is  gained, 
namely,  that  work  in  the  morning  is  more  effective  than  the  after- 
noon work.  If  we  apply  the  above  to  school  work,  it  follows  that 
the  harder  work  of  the  day  should  be  a  part  of  the  morning  program, 
rather  than  of  the  afternoon  one. 


Fig.  10.     Four  Periods  of  Five  Tests  Each,  on  the  Same  Day. 


Fig.  11  shows  the  results  of  a  series  of  twenty  tests  taken  in 
groups  of  five  on  four  successive  days;  this  was  tried  on  4  normal 
school  students.  Here  the  general  character  of  the  curves  is  regular. 
There  are  no  losses  which  are  not  regained.  These  curves  are  more 
nearly  like  those  of  Fig.  5  than  any  previously  considered. 

The  entire  gain  made  was  31  seconds,  gain  first  half  was  24 
seconds,  gain  last  half  was  7  seconds.  The  first  gain  was  over  three 
times  last  gain. 

Comparing  the  results  of  Fig.  11  with  those  of  Fig.  5,  we  find 
that  the  gain  made  by  the  former  which  was  31,  was  more  than 
that  made  by  the  latter. 

This  shows  that  continuous  practice  periods,  if  not  too  long,  are 
of  value  in  that  there  is  no  time  for  "forgetting"  to  enter  in. 

The  carrying  out  of  this  idea  in  the  work  of  the  lower  grades 


44  STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND   LEARNING 

would  be  advantageous,  for  the  little  ones  easily  forget  if  drills  are 

not  frequent.  •       v^-u 

The  series  in  which  the  greatest  gam  was  made  was  one  m  which 
the  tests  were  taken  twice  a  day,  two  at  each  period,  for  five  suc- 
cessive days.  Four  normal  school  students  took  part  m  this 
experiment. 


Fig.  11.     Five  Tests  a  Day  on  Four  Successive  Days.     The  end  of  each  day's 
practice  is  indicated  by  a  cross  below  the  curve. 

The  results,  as  seen  in  Fig.  12  (average  of  the  average  results), 
show  unusual  uniformity  up  to  the  tenth  test,  from  there  on  the 
curve  is  much  less  regular. 

The  gain  made  during  this  series  of  tests  was  39  seconds,  the  gain 
first  half  was  32  seconds,  the  gain  second  half  was  7  seconds,  the 
former  gain  being  over  four  times  the  latter  gain. 

Comparing  the  above  results  with  the  corresponding  results  of 
the  regular  series,  we  find  that  this  special  group  gained  more 
through  the  first  half  than  did  those  who  took  the  tests  in  the  regular 
way.  This  however  may  be  in  part  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that 
the  initial  rate  of  speed  of  this  special  group  was  much  slower  than 
was  the  rate  of  speed  attained  in  the  regular  tests  at  the  beginning, 
thus  affording  more  chance  for  gain  on  the  part  of  the  special  group. 


TEE    CURVE    OF   LEARNING 


45 


Taking  two  tests  twice  a  day  for  five  days  appears  to  be  more 
effective  than  taking  them  one  a  day  for  twenty  days  or  five  a  day 
for  four  successive  days. 


Fig.  12.     Two  Tests  Twice  Each  Day,  on  Five  Successive  Days. 


Beginning  with  Fig.  13  we  have  the  tests  taken  first  with  the 
a-x  key,  then  the  a-o  key,  that  the  effect  of  the  interference  may  be 
noticed,  and  the  part  it  plays  in  the  practice  determined. 


§t> 

>^\ 

^A 

^^  \ 

u    \ 

%  V 

32       \ 

3k          \ 

l^             \ 

35.              V^ 

L 

36                   ^ 
It 

\A 

3D} 

Fig.   13.     Interference. 


46  STUDIES    IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND   LEARNING 

Fig.  13  shows  the  results  of  10  a-x  tests,  then  an  interval  of  one 
week  followed  by  one  a-o  test,  then  another  a-x  test.  The  interval 
of  one  week  is  represented  in  the  curve  by  the  broken  line,  and  the 
line  that  follows  shows  the  result  of  the  a-o  tests. 

The  practice  and  knowledge  gained  in  doing  the  a-x  series  of 
ten  tests  aided  much  in  doing  the  tests  with  the  a-o  key.  Practice  in 
doing  or  learning  one  thing  helps  in  the  mastery  of  other  things  of 
a  like  character. 

Groups  of  papers  were  received  where  ten  tests  with  the  a-x  key 
were  taken  followed  immediately  by  8  tests  with  the  a-o  key.  In  con- 
trast to  this  group  there  was  another  set  of  papers  of  the  same 
number  where  an  interval  of  one  week  came  between  the  two  series. 

Table  showing  results  of  papers  where  there  was  no  interval  be- 
tween a-x  and  a-o  series: 

l«t  trial   a-x  43  seconds  |    Difference  of  10  seconds 

1st  trial   a-o  33        "  j 

10th  trial a-x  21        "  j  „  _2 

10th  trial a-o  23 

Table  showing  results  of  papers  where  an  interval  of  one  week 
came  between  the  a-x  and  a-o  series : 


1st  trial   a-x  58  seconds  |  j^^q^^^^^^  ^f  gi  seconds 

1st  trial   a-o  37        "  ) 

10th  trial a-x  23        "  1             „             _  ^ 

10th  trial a-o  27        "  j                         _  jy        « 


The  above  tables  show  that  though  the  amount  of  gain  was  more 
where  the  week's  interval  came  between  the  two  series,  the  propor- 
tionate gain  varied  but  one  second.  This  shows  that  the  short  inter- 
val of  one  week  had  slight  if  any  effect.- 

So  far,  the  results  reported  have  been  from  adults.  The  first 
series  with  children  consisted  of  10  tests  with  the  A-X  key,  taken, 
one  each  day  in  the  morning,  by  six  children  from  the  seventh  and 
eighth  grades ;  the  average  age  was  11  years,  7  months. 

The  gain  made  by  the  children  during  the  10  tests  was  much 
greater  than  that  made  by  the  normal  school  students  ("regular 
series")  in  the  same  number  of  tests.     The  gain  made  by  the  stu- 

*  In  other  words,  practice  with  the  use  of  the  A-X  key  decreased  the  time 
for  the  first  trial  with  the  A-O  key  by  10  seconds  in  one  group  and  by  21 
seconds  in  the  other  group,  while  the  difference  between  the  tenth  trials  of  the 
A-X  and  the  A-O  series  was  in  the  first  group  2  seconds  and  in  tne  second 
group  4  seconds — which  indicates  that  the  practice  effect  is  proportionally  the 
same  in  the  two  cases. 


THE    CURVE    OF   LEARNING  47 

dents  in  the  first  ten  tests  of  the  regular  series  was  21  seconds ;  that 
made  by  the  children  in  the  same  number  of  tests  was  48  seconds, 
more  than  twice  as  much. 

Gain  in  first  five  tests — adults  16  seconds 

Gain  in  first  five  tests — children 34        " 

Gain  in  second  five  tests — adults  5        " 

Gain  in  second  five  tests — children 14        " 

From  the  above  we  see  that  the  gain  of  adults,  in  the  first  five 
tests  of  the  ''regular  series,"  was  three  times  as  much  as  in  the 
second  five  tests ;  while  the  gain  made  by  the  children  in  the  first  five 
tests  was  twice  their  gain  in  the  second  five. 

The  children  began  their  tests  at  a  much  lower  rate  of  speed  than 
did  the  normal  school  students,  the  average  time  for  the  first  "trials" 
or  lines  by  the  students  being  47  seconds,  and  by  the  children  88 
seconds.  The  best  records  among  the  children  were,  however,  about 
as  good  as  the  best  records  among  the  normal  school  students. 

Tests  were  also  taken  after  school,  at  four  o'clock,  by  six  children 
from  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades.  The  average  age  of  these  chil- 
dren— 11  years,  7  months — was  the  same  as  the  average  age  of  the 
children  in  the  preceding  group,  who  were  tested  in  the  morning. 

Prom  the  following  table  we  find  that  there  is  an  average  loss  of 
10  seconds  when  the  tests  are  taken  at  night : 

Tests  taken  A.M.  Tests  taken  P.M. 

Gain  in  first  half 34  seconds  25.7  seconds. 

Gain  in  second  half 14        "  12.5        " 

Total  gain   48        "  38.2        " 

This  indicates  that  with  the  children,  as  well  as  with  adults,  the 
morning  work  is  of  more  value. 

Besides  the  results  received  from  the  children  of  the  seventh  and 
eighth  grades,  I  also  had  some  papers  from  twelve  little  children  of 
a  third  grade.  I  took  the  tests  myself  with  these  children,  taking 
six  of  the  children  for  the  tests  in  the  morning  and  six  children  for 
the  tests  after  school.  The  average  age  of  these  little  ones  was  eight 
years. 

Charts  were  also  plotted  to  show  these  results,  the  chart  repre- 
senting the  tests  taken  in  the  morning  is  not  on  exactly  the  same 
basis  as  others  because  one  or  two  of  the  little  children  were  unable 
to  do  the  entire  first  five  tests,  some  only  doing  the  first  three  trials 
in  the  time  at  our  disposal. 

With  the  little  ones  it  took  some  time  for  them  to  learn  what  they 
were  expected  to  do  and  how  to  do  it,  but  once  this  part  was  under- 
stood, their  gains  were  rapid. 


48 


STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND   LEARNING 


In  studying  Fig.  14  we  find  that  the  gains  were  not  as  gradual  as 
they  might  have  been,  the  very  great  gains  came  at  the  beginning 
but  toward  the  end  the  gains  were  of  a  more  equal  length.  We  find 
the  greatest  gain  to  be  at  the  first  of  the  curve — a  gain  of  forty 
seconds.  As  the  practice  continues  the  amount  of  gain  decreases. 
The  total  gain  made  by  the  children  taking  the  tests  in  the  morning 
was  138.1  seconds. 

During  the  tests  taken  after  school  an  average  gain  of  108  seconds 
was  made,  being  30  seconds  less  than  the  morning  gain. 


Fig.  14.     Ten  Tests  taken  A.M.  on  Children  of  Third  Grade.     Average  results. 


From  studying  Fig.  14  one  can  readily  see  how  enormous  are  the 
gains  made  by  the  children  as  compared  with  those  made  by  the 
normal  school  students. 

If  we  consider  some  of  the  individual  papers  of  the  children  we 
find  that  in  many  places  there  is  evidence  of  no  real  gain  whatever, 
but  this  period  of  standstill  is  not  truly  one  of  no  gain,  for  after 
these  resting  periods,  as  we  may  call  them,  great  gains  are  frequently 


THE    CURVE    OF   LEARNING 


49 


made  and  also  kept.  It  seems  almost  as  though  we  might  call  these 
periods  of  assimilating,  for  the  acceleration  which  follows  shows  that 
some  learning  must  have  been  going  on  or  otherwise  the  sudden 
gains  would  not  have  ensued. 

It  was  intensely  interesting  to  watch  the  little  ones  as  they  were 
taking  the  tests.  They  were  all  greatly  interested  in  doing  the  exer- 
cise   and  were  especially  anxious  to  know  the    progress  they  were 


Fig.  15.  Practice  Curves  of  Elderly  Persons.  A  sliows  tlie  results  obtained, 
in  7  tests,  by  an  individual  72  years  old;  B  shows  the  results  obtained,  in  10 
tests,  by  an  individual  of  60  years. 


50  STUDIES   IN   DEVELOPMENT   AND   LEARNING 

making  and  how  it  compared  with  that  made  by  their  friends.  En- 
couragement did  much  in  raising  the  record  and  the  trying  to  outdo 
their  friends  held  the  interest  of  the  children  and  proved  the  best 
incentive  to  doing  the  work. 

After  an  afternoon  spent  almost  entirely  in  drawing,  the  tests 
were  taken,  and  the  weariness  of  the  children  influenced  the  rate  of 
progress  greatly.  Their  interest  in  the  doing  of  the  tests  was  much 
less  than  it  previously  had  been  and  the  gains  they  made  interested 
them  little.  It  was  only  with  great  coaxing  and  encouragement  that 
they  were  able  to  be  kept  long  enough  to  finish  the  tests. 

In  two  instances,  children  having  a  headache  could  not  work 
nearly  so  quickly  as  they  had  been  accustomed,  and  one  little  girl 
who  had  a  hard  cold  was  unable  to  do  more  than  three  trials  of  one 
test,  and  to  do  this  amount  she  took  as  much  time  as  she  usually 
would  require  to  accomplish  the  ten  trials. 

These  instances  show  that  the  physical  condition  of  a  child,  espe- 
cially, has  much  influence  on  his  mental  ability. 

Having  tested  the  normal  school  students  and  some  few  children, 
I  was  interested  to  know  how  tests  of  older  people  would  compare 
with  the  previous  tests  of  children  and  students.  This  study  I  could 
not  carry  very  far,  for  subjects  were  hard  to  find.  However,  the 
tests  were  taken  in  the  ''regular"  way — one  test  a  day — ^by  two 
elderly  individuals,  a  gentleman  of  seventy-two  years,  and  a  woman 
of  sixty  years.  Fig.  15  shows  the  results  obtained  by  these  two. 
Curve  A  is  very  similar  to  the  corresponding  curves  on  the  charts 
which  represent  the  results  of  the  children's  tests,  while  curve  B  is 
more  nearly  like  the  corresponding  curve  in  Fig.  5. 

After  a  period  of  five  months  or  so,  during  which  time  no  tests 
were  taken,  the  subjects  who  had  previously  taken  the  tests  were 
asked  to  try  one  test  more,  of  ten  trials,  that  it  might  be  seen  whether 
the  learning  was  permanent  or  not,  and  if  so  to  determine  where  it 
was  the  most  so. 

This  was  done  and  the  following  table  shows  the  result. 

From  this  table  we  find  by  comparing  results  of  the  first  trials 
before  the  interval  with  the  first  trials  after  the  interval  that  in 
every  case  save  two  there  was  a  gain  at  the  beginning  of  the  period 
after  the  interval,  showing  that  the  knowledge  gained  from  practice 
five  months  previous  still  in  part  remained. 

In  the  two  instances  where  no  gain  was  made  during  first  trial 
after  the  interval  over  first  trial  before  interval  we  have  good  proof 
that  the  forgetting  played  an  important  part. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  this  is  the  result  where  all  the  tests  were 
taken  at  the  same  time  or  even  where  they  were  taken  four  different 
periods  on  the  same  day. 


THE    CURVE    OF   LEARNING 
TABLE  XI 


51 


1.  General  test 

2.  All  test,  one  period 

3.  Four  different  periods, 

same  day 

4.  Ten  tests,  two  successive 

Saturdays 

5.  Two  tests,  twice  a  day, 

five  successive  days... 

6.  Children' s  tests,  7th  and 

8th  grades,  A.  M 

7.  Children' s  tests,  7th  and 

8th  grades,  P.  M 

8.  Children's     tests,      3d 

grade,  A.  M 

9.  Children's     tests,      3d 

grade,  P.  M 


1st 
Trial 

Best 
Av. 

Last 
Av. 

Last 
Trial 

1st 
Trial 

Last 
Trial 

47.6 
63.7 

13.4 
21.1 

13.4 
31.7 

13.8 
37.5 

33.6 

60.7 

21 
33.7 

44 

14.9 

17 

15 

3 

45 

28 

53.5 

18.2 

18.2 

17.7 

n 

< 

41 

29 

90.6 

17.1 

17.1 

15 

< 

B 

42.3 

31 

88.8 

14.8 

20.6 

19.3 

51.2 

26.2 

66.5 

22.5 

22.9 

18 

a 

36 

24.2 

23.9 

24 

25.9 

24.5 

68 

33 

25.0 

35.5 

35.5 

22 

86.7 

55.7 

Av.  of  Test 

after 

Interval 


28.4 
40.8 

31.4 

33.7 

34.3 

35.5 

27.5 

42.8 

61.7 


If  we  compare  the  averages  after  the  interval  with  the  last  ones 
before  the  interval  we  may,  I  think,  form  a  just  estimate  of  how 
great  a  part  the  long  interval  played.  Where  all  the  tests  were 
taken  at  one  period,  as  well  as  where  they  were  taken  from  different 
periods  of  the  same  day,  it  would  be  more  accurate,  it  seems,  to 
compare  the  best  average  of  these  two  groups  with  the  average 
after  the  interval. 

Considering  the  groups,  of  the  normal  school  students,  we  find 
the  loss  caused  by  the  interval  to  be  rather  more  marked  where  the 
tests  were  taken  all  at  one  period,  and  less  marked  where  the  tests 
were  taken  daily. 

With  the  children's  tests  we  find  that  where  the  tests  were  taken 
in  the  afternoon  by  the  seventh  and  eighth  grade  children  the  inter- 
val caused  the  least  effect.  With  the  little  children  who  took  the  tests 
in  the  afternoon  the  interval  caused  the  greatest  effect. 

From  observation  of  those  taking  the  tests,  as  well  as  from  written 
statements  from  many  of  them,  some  of  the  conditions  which  in- 
fluenced progress  were  made  apparent. 

1.  Physical  condition  of  subject,  most  noticeable  in  the  nervous- 
ness which  followed  inability  to  find  a  certain  letter  in  quick  time ; 
headache  was  accountable  in  several  instances  for  lack  of  power  to 
work  quickly. 

2.  Temperature  of  the  room — if  the  room  was  warm,  work  was 
much  slower  than  usual ;  if  too  cold  the  same  result  was  noticeable. 

3.  Interruption  of  any  kind  barred  progress.  This  was  especially 
true  with  the  children.  Once  their  minds  were  off  their  work,  it  was 
hard  for  them  to  concentrate  themselves  upon  it  again  for  some  time. 


52 


STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND   LEARNING 


4.  "Mind-wandering"— thinking  of  outside  things — caused  de- 
crease in  rapidity  of  action. 

5.  If  subjects  were  in  a  hurry,  for  any  reason,  the  work  was 
slower  than  usual.  ^^^ 

6.  Weariness  from  school  work  made  a  great  difference"*!  the 

records. 

7.  If  an  unusually  strong  effort  was  put  forth  to  do  the  work 
quickly,  without  fail  undesired  results  would  follow. 

Brief  Summary  of  Results 

1.  The  greater  gains  in  the  process  of  learning  to  do  something 
are  at  the  first  of  the  practice. 

2.  Periods  of  morning  work  are  more  effective  than  the  afternoon 
periods. 

3.  Children  work  much  slower  to  begin  with  than  do  adults,  but 
the  gains  made  by  them  are  greater.  The  gains  of  the  adults,  how- 
ever, are  more  even  and  uniform  than  those  of  the  children. 

4.  Short  and  frequent  periods  of  practice  are  more  valuable  than 
long  extended  ones. 

Editor's  Comment. — The  test  sheet  and  key  used  in  the  above  ex- 
periments are  reproduced  above  that  others  may  use  them  if  they  so 
desire.  The  exercise  has  proved  very  serviceable,  both  as  a  means 
of  making  a  simple  research  and  for  illustrating  a  number  of  truths 
taught  in  the  psychology  class. 

As  a  research,  w^hile  revealing  little  that  is  entirely  new,  it  helps 
to  confirm  and  emphasize,  and  suggests  some  truths  that  have  not 
as  yet  received  sufficient  attention.  The  comparison  of  the  learning 
curves  of  children,  adults  and  the  aged  is  interesting,  but  the  ques- 
tions of  greatest  importance  raised  by  the  study  are  those  concerning 
the  number  of  repetitions  at  one  time  and  the  length  of  intervals 
between  practice  that  are  most  favorable  to  rapid  and  permanent 
learning. 

To  what  extent  an  individual  curve  of  learning  and  fatigue  is 
typical  of  all  learning  by  that  individual  is  also  a  matter  of  great 
theoretical  and  practical  importance. 


^P  THESIS   IX 

Fatigue  in  Habit  Formation 
Experiment  by  Mabian  F.  Lane 

The  same  test-sheet  and  key  sheets  which  were  used  in  the  pre- 
ceding study  and  described  on  p.  36  were  also  employed  in  the  study 
of  fatigue. 

This  discussion  is  too  extensive  to  be  quoted  in  full,  and  parts 
given  alone  would  not  be  clear  without  considerable  explanation. 
In  general,  the  results  are  what  might  be  expected ;  such  as  decrease 
in  rate  of  improvement,  or  irregularity  in  the  record  where  a  number 
of  tests  were  taken  at  one  time  and  usually  less  rapid  improvement 
in  the  afternoon  than  in  the  morning.  Even  in  a  single  test  there 
seems  to  be  evidence  of  fatigue,  for  in  the  sixth  to  eighth  trial  there 
is  usually  little  or  no  improvement,  sometimes  a  loss.  The  poor 
record  made  after  a  drawing  lesson  indicates  that  the  fatigue  is 
largely  local  rather  than  general,  and  perhaps  mainly  motor.  There 
is  probably  no  actual  inability  to  maintain  the  rate  but  decreased 
tendency  to  do  so. 

The  experiment  is  a  good  one  with  which  to  illustrate  to  a  class 
the  phenomena  of  fatigue  as  well  as  those  of  learning  processes  and 
habit  formation. 


53 


THESIS   X 

Ways  op  Learning  Visual  Forms 

By  IVIay  N.  Hills 

Thesis.— 1  placed  before  the  pupils  of  the  first,  third,  sixth  and 
eighth  grades  and  before  the  normal  school  students  five  meaningless 
figures  based  on  geometrical  forms.  I  asked  the  pupils  to  study  the 
figures,  but  did  not  suggest  any  particular  way  of  studying  them. 
I  allowed  ten  minutes.  Then  I  took  away  the  figures  and  asked  the 
pupils  to  draw  them.  After  the  drawing,  I  asked  the  pupils  to 
answer  the  following  questions : 

1.  How  did  you  learn  the  figures  ? 

2.  Did  you  move  your  hand  or  any  part  of  your  body  in  the  shape 
of  the  outline  while  studying  ? 

3.  Did  you  associate  the  figures  with  any  familiar  shape  or  ob- 
ject? 

4.  Did  you  study  the  parts  of  the  figures  separately  or  try  to 
think  of  words  which  would  describe  the  parts  ? 

From  the  first  grade,  of  course,  I  received  only  oral  answers, 
which  could  not  be  tabulated,  but  I  learned  much  about  the  char- 
acteristics of  little  children.  I  marked  the  papers  received  from  the 
third,  sixth  and  eighth  grades  and  normal  school  students  as  to  the 
general  appearance  of  the  drawings  they  had  made  and  then  as  to  the 
perfectness  of  the  details  in  the  drawings.  In  marking  the  papers, 
I  tried  to  keep  one  standard  of  excellence  for  a,  another  for  b,  and 
another  for  c,  without  regard  to  grade  or  sex.  After  marking  all 
the  papers,  I  found  the  per  cent,  receiving  a,  h  and  c  respectively,  as 
to  the  general  appearance,  and  then  as  to  the  more  detailed  repre- 
sentation. 

Next  I  found  the  per  cent,  of  correspondence  between  the  general 
appearance  and  the  detail — that  is,  what  per  cent,  of  those  who  got  a 
in  the  general,  got  a  in  the  detail  also. 

My  next  problem  was  to  find  how  pupils  learn.  Very  often  a 
teacher  places  a  lesson — spelling,  for  instance — on  the  blackboard 
and  tells  the  class  to  write  each  word  five  times  or  else  she  gives  them 
no  direction  for  learning.  So  it  seemed  important  to  try  to  know 
something  of  the  natural  ways  in  which  children  learn.  For  if  we, 
as  teachers,  can  appeal  to  a  natural  method,  it  saves  much  energy^ 
and  time  for  both  teacher  and  pupil. 

54 


WATS    OF   LEARNING    VISUAL   FORMS  55 

After  reading  the  answers  for  both  the  children  and  the  students, 
I  was  able  to  make  four  classifications:  first,  those  who  learned  by 
moving  the  hand  or  some  part  of  the  body  in  the  direction  of  the 
outline  of  the  figure  to  be  learned ;  second,  those  who  associated  the 
figure  or  a  part  of  it  with  some  object  or  figure  already  familiar; 
third,  those  who  tried  to  learn  the  figures  as  wholes;  and  fourth, 
those  who  analyzed  the  parts,  learning  only  a  part  at  a  time. 

According  to  Table  XII.,  it  is  seen  that  as  to  the  general  ap- 
pearance of  the  figures  the  normal  school  students  received  a  higher 
mark  by  only  a  few  per  cent,  than  the  pupils  of  the  eighth  grade; 
and  also  it  may  be  noticed  that  the  increase  in  ability  to  remember 
the  general  appearance  is  gradual,  but  with  more  variation  between 
the  sixth  and  eighth  grades,  47  per  cent,  of  the  normal  school 
students  receiving  a ;  30  per  cent,  of  the  eighth  grade ;  27  per  cent, 
of  the  sixth  grade,  and  26  per  cent,  of  the  third  grade.  In  the  third 
and  eighth  grades  the  boys  did  the  best,  but  in  the  sixth  grade  the 
girls  took  the  lead.  This  difference  between  the  ability  of  the  girls 
and  boys  is  even  more  noticed  as  to  the  detailed  appearance  of  the 
figures. 

Fifty-seven  per  cent,  of  the  normal  school  students  received  a  as 
to  the  detailed  correctness  of  their  drawings;  13  per  cent,  of  the 
eighth  grade ;  11  per  cent,  of  the  sixth  grade,  and  8  per  cent,  of  the 
third  grade.  Here  the  difference  in  ability  in  remembering  many 
details  between  the  normal  student  and  the  pupil  of  any  grade  is 
quite  marked. 

Table  XIII.  shows  the  per  cent,  of  students  and  pupils  receiving 
€,,  h,  c,  as  to  the  general  appearance,  who  also  received  the  same  mark 
in  detailed  appearance. 

Table  XIV.  I  found  the  most  interesting  and  instructive.  This 
shows  the  method  by  which  each  child  learned  the  figures.  Nearly 
all  the  students  and  pupils  used  a  combination  of  two  or  three 
methods  and  several  used  all  the  methods.  The  normal  school 
student  depended  the  most  upon  association  in  remembering  the 
figures,  92  per  cent,  using  this  method,  while  37  per  cent,  consider  it 
the  most  important  method  of  learning;  but  the  children  consider 
the  learning  of  wholes  as  wholes  the  most  important.  For  example, 
one  typical  normal  school  student  writes: 

' '  In  order  to  place  the  figures  better  in  my  mind  I  at  once  thought 
of  their  likeness  to  other  things.  Upon  looking  at  the  first  one,  I 
noticed  that  the  upper,  lower  and  left  hand  sides  were  straight  lines 
put  together  so  as  to  form  a  square.  The  fourth  side  made  me  think 
of  a  crude  drawing  of  a  human  face.  The  second  figure  looked  like 
an  Indian  tent ;  the  third  one  like  a  semicircle  on  an  axe ;  the  fouth 
one  like  writing,  and  the  fifth  like  an  oak  leaf. 


56  STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND   LEARNING 

Let  us  next  notice  what  importance  was  assigned  to  the  motor 
element  in  learning.  Eighty-eight  per  cent,  of  the  third  grade,  80 
per  cent,  of  the  sixth  grade,  76  per  cent,  of  the  eighth  grade  and  40 
per  cent,  of  the  normal  school  students  used  this  method.  Nearly- 
all  the  children  said  that  they  moved  their  finger  on  their  desk  or  in 
the  air  while  learning.  When  they  thought  they  could  draw  it,  they 
looked  away  from  the  figure  and  tried  to  draw  it  with  the  finger. 
This  method  seemed  most  natural  to  them,  but  as  the  children  ad- 
vanced in  age  and  in  grade  they  gradually  lost  the  motor  method  of 
drawing,  or  rather  of  learning;  and  when  we  come  to  the  normal 
school  student,  we  find  that  the  only  form  of  the  motor  element  exist- 
ing is  the  moving  of  the  eyes  around  the  figures  just  as  the  child 
moved  the  finger.  There  may  be  two  causes  for  this ;  first,  the  natural 
instinct  toward  motor  learning  may  be  less  strong  as  the  child  grows 
older ;  second,  this  natural  instinct  may  have  been  repressed  so  often 
through  the  discipline  of  the  school  room  that  the  older  students  do 
not  have  so  strong  a  tendency  to  use  this  method.  Only  9  per  cent, 
of  the  normal  school  students  consider  this  method  the  most  im- 
portant; 16  per  cent,  of  the  eighth  grade;  24  per  cent,  of  the  sixth 
grade,  and  40  per  cent,  of  the  third  grade. 

As  mentioned  before  the  normal  school  students  consider  the 
learning  by  association  the  most  important  method,  but  as  we  come 
down  through  the  grades  we  find  the  method  decreasing  in  popu- 
larity. Ninety-two  per  cent,  of  the  normal  school  students  use  it; 
86  per  cent,  of  the  eighth  grade ;  68  per  cent,  of  the  sixth  grade,  and 
48  per  cent,  of  the  third  grade.  "While  41  per  cent,  of  the  eighth 
grade  consider  it  the  most  helpful  method,  only  5  per  cent,  of  the 
third  consider  it  the  most  helpful.  In  comparing  the  drawings  with 
the  methods  used,  I  found  that  those  who  used  this  method — associa- 
tion— modified  their  images  so  that  often  the  drawing  looked  more 
like  the  figure  with  which  it  was  associated  than  like  the  original 
form.  For  example,  an  eighth  grade  boy  said  that  the  second  figure 
"looked  just  like  a  pine  tree"  and  his  drawing  did  look  decidedly 
like  a  pine  tree. 

All  the  children  of  the  third  grade  used  the  method  of  learning 
by  wholes  to  some  extent.  Ninety-four  per  cent,  of  the  eighth  grade 
and  75  per  cent,  of  the  normal  school  students  used  it,  while  55 
per  cent,  of  the  third  grade  considered  this  method  most  helpful ;  45 
per  cent,  of  the  sixth  grade ;  32  per  cent,  of  the  eighth  grade,  and  30 
per  cent,  of  the  normal  school  students. 

This  fact  may  be  given  as  one  reason  why  so  much  smaller  pro- 
portion of  the  children  received  a  as  to  the  details  of  their  drawings 
than  received  a  as  to  the  general  appearance.     Naturally  children 


WATS    OF   LEARNING    VISUAL    FORMS  57 

see  the  whole  thing  at  once,  instead  of  analyzing.  Only  8  per  cent, 
of  the  third  grade  used  the  method  of  analysis,  while  57  per  cent,  of 
the  normal  school  students  used  it. 

After  several  days  had  passed  since  the  students  and  children  had 
seen  the  original  figures,  I  asked  them  to  draw  the  figures  again 
from  memory.  Then  I  asked  them  which  method  helped  the  most  in 
remembering  the  figures.  These  papers  I  did  not  tabulate  but  from 
them  I  learned  many  facts.  Those  who  considered  the  motor  element 
of  learning  very  important  the  first  day  they  drew  the  figures  said 
that  the  motor  element  did  not  help  them  so  much  when  they  had 
to  remember  the  figures  for  several  days.  The  normal  school  stu- 
dents considered  this  method  "a  quick  method  of  learning  but  the 
easiest  to  forget. ' '  While  many  who  did  not  realize  that  association 
helped  them  the  first  day  say  that  it  helped  them  to  remember  for  a 
longer  period.     One  student  writes : 

"The  first  three  figures  which  I  associated  with  a  familiar  object 
came  back  readily  to-day,  but  the  others  which  I  had  learned  by 
hand  tracing  did  not  come  back  so  readily. ' ' 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  the  combinations  of  methods  used  and 
the  results  obtained  from  various  combinations.  Nearly  all  the 
students  and  pupils  who  received  an  a  in  both  general  and  detailed 
appearance  used  a  combination  of  three  or  four  methods,  while  those 
who  were  marked  c  rarely  used  more  than  one  or  two  methods.  The 
normal  school  students  obtained  the  best  results  by  studying  the 
figure  as  a  whole  first  and  then  spending  much  time  in  associating  it 
with  other  known  figures  and  analyzing  it.  The  children  of  the 
third  grade  obtained  the  best  results  by  studying  the  figure  as  a 
whole  carefully  and  then  tracing  it  with  the  finger  many  times. 
When  they  thought  they  could  draw  it,  they  looked  away  and  tried 
to  trace  it  in  the  air  or  on  the  desk;  if  they  couldn't  do  it,  they 
studied  it  some  more. 

As  the  children  grow  older  imagination  or  association  seems  to 
take  the  place  of  the  motor  element ;  and  the  tendency  to  reason  and 
analyze  grows  with  age.  These  facts  too  often  pass  unnoticed  in  the 
school  room.  ]\Iany  teachers  who  do  good  work  with  older  children 
fail  with  the  little  pupils  because  they  do  not  realize  the  importance 
of  the  motor  learning  to  the  undeveloped  mind.  And  the  reverse  is 
equally  true.  The  motor  process  of  learning  must  be  used  but  not 
so  constantly  that  as  the  child  grows  older  he  will  lose  the  power  to 
analyze  and  to  reason. 


58 


STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND   LEARNING 


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WAYS    OF   LEARNING    VISUAL   FORMS  59 

TABLE    XIV 
Showing  the  Method  of  Leabning 

Method 
Per  cent,  of  normal  school  students  using, 
Per  cent,  of  eighth  grade  using, 
Per  cent,  of  sixth  grade  using, 
Per  cent,  of  third  grade  using. 

Per  cent,  of  normal  school  students  helped  most  by, 

Per  cent,  of  eighth  grade  helped  most  by. 

Per  cent,  of  sixth  grade  helped  most  by. 

Per  cent,  of  third  grade  helped  most  by. 

Method      I.  is  by  motor  tracing. 
Method     II.  is  by  association. 
Method  III.  is  by  wholes. 
Method   IV.  is  by  analysis. 

Editor's  Comment. — This  and  the  two  studies  following  are  repre- 
sentative of  forms  of  study  that  can  be  made  and  that  should  be 
made  frequently  by  intelligent  teachers  who  are  not  satisfied  with  the 
mechanical  learning  of  lessons,  but  who  wish  to  economize  the  time 
of  their  pupils  and  help  them  to  gain  the  power  to  direct  their 
activities  to  the  best  advantage. 

The  results  of  this  study  suggest  that  probably  movements  are 
of  greatest  importance  when  habits  are  to  be  formed,  but  that  recol- 
lection of  specific  things  after  an  interval  is  best  insured  by  associa- 
tive memory. 


THESIS  XI  -  -i 

Methods  of  Learning  Visual  Forms 
By  Edna  L.  Battles 

Thesis. — To  test  the  methods  of  learning  in  the  different  grades, 
I  drew  three  figures.  The  first  figure  was  composed  of  a  circle, 
a  triangle,  a  rectangular  shape  which  was  pointed  at  one  end,  and 
a  figure  resembling  an  oak  leaf  and  having  five  points.  The  second 
figure  was  made  up  of  the  same  parts  differently  arranged.  The 
third  figure  was  entirely  different.  The  island  of  New  Guinea  was 
taken  as  a  basis  for  the  form.  This  island  was  taken  because  it 
was  thought  that  the  pupils  had  probably  never  studied  it  to  any 
great  extent  nor  learned  to  draw  it,  so  that  they  would  not  be 
familiar  with  its  shape.  It  was  simplified  somewhat  but  the  general 
shape  was  preserved.  The  dividing  lines  between  the  Dutch,  Ger- 
man and  British  territories  were  put  in  the  figure,  also  the  two 
largest  rivers.  Two  marks  indicating  capitals  and  two  dots  indicat- 
ing cities  were  also  added. 

The  tests  were  taken  in  the  second,  fourth,  sixth  and  eighth 
grades.  Three  tests  were  taken  in  each  grade.  In  the  first  test  the 
pupils  were  asked  to  learn  the  figure  and  were  allowed  to  learn 
it  in  the  way  they  chose ;  in  the  second  test  they  were  asked  to  look 
at  the  figure,  and  then  to  shut  their  eyes  or  look  away  and  see 
if  they  could  see  a  picture  of  the  figure;  in  the  third  test  the 
pupils  were  asked  to  learn  the  figure  by  drawing  it  on  the  desk 
with  their  finger.  In  each  test,  they  were  then  given  four  minutes 
in  which  to  study  the  figure;  after  which  time  they  were  re- 
quired to  draw  it  from  memory.  The  tests  were  given  in  the  after- 
noon; in  nearly  every  case  (except  where  there  was  no  recess)  they 
were  given  directly  after  the  afternoon  recess, 

I  went  over  the  tests,  marking  them  as  to  general  form,  detail 
and  proportion.  The  general  form  was  marked  with  the  letters 
from  a  to  g,  according  to  the  correctness  of  the  form ;  a  being  used 
when  the  form  was  correct ;  h,  c  and  d  as  the  forms  were  less  correct ; 
e  when  there  was  no  resemblance  to  the  original  form ;  /  when  only 
a  part  was  drawn,  and  g  when  nothing  was  drawn.  In  grading 
the  first  two  figures  for  detail,  the  circle,  the  triangle,  the  rectangular 
form,  the  shape  of  the  leaf  and  the  number  of  its  points  each  counted 
as  one.     The  details  of  figures  1  and  2  thus  numbered  five.     In 

60 


METHODS    OF   LEARNING    VISUAL    FORMS  Ql 

figure  3  each  dot  representing  a  city,  each  river,  each  boundary- 
line  and  five  parts,  either  points  or  curves  of  the  figure  each  counted 
as  one,  making  the  number  of  details  equal  thirteen.  In  marking  the 
proportion  of  parts,  the  letters  ran  from  a  to  e. 

The  tables  are  made  on  the  standard  of  twenty-five  boys  and 
twenty-five  girls  in  each  of  the  four  grades  used.  Table  XVI.  gives 
the  distribution  of  the  total  marks  for  general  form  and  proportion 
in  each  test  for  each  grade. 


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62 


STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND    LEARNING 


In  the  second  table,  7  was  substituted  for  a,  6  for  h,  5  for  c,  etc. 
The  number  of  a's  was  multiplied  by  7,  the  number  of  &'s  by  6,  etc. 
The  results  were  added  and  the  total  was  placed  in  the  table.  The 
number  of  details  which  were  right  in  each  test  were  also  added  and 
put  in  the  table. 

TABLE    XVI 


Boys 

Test  I 

Test  II 

Test  III 

Child's  own 
Method 

Imagination 
Method 

Motor 
Method 

Total 

1 

C5 

'3 

G 

*^  a  o 

P  "  o 
«        U 

1 

S    2 

'3 

g    .1 

^  OS  ft 

1 

§     .2 

•  rt  ft 
0       o 

II. 

62 

224 

60 

210 

78 

224 

200 

658 

IV. 

102 

243 

113 

247 

105 

237 

320 

727 

VI. 

118 

260 

105 

270 

120 

259 

343 

789 

VIII. 

135 

298 

143 

296 

180 

312 

458 

906 

Total 

417 

1025 

421 

1023 

483 

1032 

1321 

3080 

Total 

1442 

1444 

1515 

4401 

Girls 

II. 

59 

211 

63 

203 

68 

219 

190 

633 

IV. 

106 

244 

104 

242 

122 

244 

332 

730 

VI. 

114 

260 

115 

293 

133 

260 

362 

813 

VIII. 

151 

310 

146 

313 

165 

313 

462 

936 

Total 

430 

1025 

428 

1051 

488 

1036 

1346 

3112 

Total 

1455 

1479 

1524 

4458 

Boys 

and  Girls 

II. 

121 

435 

123 

413 

146 

443 

390 

1291 

rv. 

208 

487 

217 

489 

227 

481 

652 

1457 

VI. 

232 

520 

220 

563 

253 

519 

705 

1602 

VIII. 

286 

608 

289 

609 

345 

625 

920 

1842 

Total 

847 

2050 

849 

2074 

971 

2068 

2667 

6192 

Total 

289 

7 

2923 

3039 

8859 

The  table  shows,  in  regard  to  detail,  a  great  improvement  from 
the  second  to  the  fourth  grades,  no  great  change  from  the  fourth 
to  the  sixth  grades,  and  again  a  great  improvement  from  the  sixl^ 
to  the  eighth  grades.  In  test  II.  the  boys  of  the  fourth  grade  actually 
surpassed  those  of  the  sixth ;  but  this  result  is  perhaps  accidental,  as 
it  is  due  to  the  great  success  of  two  or  three  boys  in  the  fourth 
grade — who  ranked  as  high  in  the  number  of  correct  details  as  the 
best  of  the  eighth  grade — combined  with  the  very  low  rank  of  two 
or  three  boys  in  the  sixth  grade. 

The  gain  in  general  form  and  proportion  is  usually  gradual  from 
grade  to  grade.  It  totals  less,  from  the  second  to  the  eighth  grades, 
than  the  gain  in  number  of  correct  details.     The  number  of  correct 


METHODS    OF   LEARNING    VISUAL    FORMS  63 

details  is  doubled  and  a  little  over,  while  the  general  form  and  pro- 
portion is  not  very  much  better  in  the  eighth  grade  than  in  the 
second.  The  younger  children  get  the  general  form  of  the  figure 
much  better  than  they  get  the  details.  They  see  anything  as  a  whole, 
and  have  not  yet  learned  to  look  for  the  parts.  One  important 
phase  of  the  primary  teacher's  work  is  to  lead  the  child  to  see  the 
details  in  the  things  around  him. 

One  very  interesting  thing  is  the  number  of  times  that  the 
figures  were  reversed.  Figures  1  and  2  were  often  reversed  and 
usually  it  was  after  one  or  the  other  of  them  had  been  learned  be- 
fore. There  were  most  reversals  in  Grade  IV.,  there  being  very  few 
in  the  other  grades. 

In  regard  to  the  relative  success  of  the  three  metJiods  of  learning 
used  respectively  in  tests  I.,  II.  and  III.,  we  find  from  Table  XVI. 
that,  for  all  the  children  taken  together,  the  motor  method  gave 
better  results  than  either  the  method  in  which  the  children  were 
directed  to  close  their  eyes  and  imagine  the  figure  or  the  method 
of  the  child's  own  choosing.  This  superiority  of  the  motor  method 
is  much  more  marked  in  correctness  of  details  than  in  general  form 
and  proportion.  The  importance  of  motor  methods  in  school  work 
is  indicated  by  these  results. 

Looking  at  the  results  of  each  grade  separately,  we  see  that  the 
motor  method  of  learning  is  by  far  the  best  for  the  second  grade, 
w^hile  the  imagination  is  very  poor.  The  importance  of  the  motor 
method  was  brought  very  forcibly  to  my  mind  in  giving  the  tests 
in  this  grade.  When  the  children  were  learning  their  figures  by 
the  choice  or  motor  methods,  a  great  many  of  them  moved  their 
whole  body  in  the  direction  in  which  they  would  move  their  fingers 
when  drawing  the  figure.  In  the  fourth  and  sixth  grades  the 
imagination  tests  begin  to  gain  prominence,  showing  that  the  chil- 
dren are  gaining  the  power  to  form  images. 

The  question  arises.  Would  it  not  be  better  to  lead  the  pupils 
to  learn  by  a  method  which  is  found  to  be  best  for  children  in 
that  grade  than  to  allow  them  to  learn  as  they  choose?  It  would 
seem  from  the  results  of  these  tests  that  it  would  be  much  better 
to  direct  them  as  to  the  w^ay  they  should  study,  especially  in  the 
low  grades.  The  choice  tests  do  not  give  the  best  results,  as  per- 
haps one  might  expect,  but  it  was  where  some  specified  method 
was  prescribed  that  the  best  results  were  obtained.  If  the  children 
had  better  results  when  some  specified  method  was  used,  with 
only  one  trial,  does  it  not  seem  probable  that  there  would  be 
still  greater  improvement  if  it  was  continued  ? 

The  individual  child,  however,  should  be  studied.     Some  children 


?^f^^  T^r^.r 


v/yi 


64  STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND    LEARNING 

are  greatly  helped  by  having  the  method  of  learning  suggested.  For 
instance,  there  was  a  boy  in  grade  II.  who  advanced  from  e  in  the 
choice  test  to  a  in  the  motor  test  for  correctness  of  general  form. 
He  also  gained  in  details  and  proportion  although  not  so  much. 
That  boy  certainly  was  helped,  that  time  at  least,  by  having  the 
method  of  learning  suggested  to  him.  Of  course  there  might  have 
been  other  things  which  combined  to  make  it  better.  The  motor 
test  was  the  last  test  given,  and  as  this  was  probably  the  first  time 
that  the  children  in  this  grade  had  ever  done  anything  of  the  kind 
they  had  grown  more  accustomed  to  doing  it  in  the  last  test  and  so 
could  put  their  minds  more  entirely  upon  it.  Another  child  would 
be  greatly  hindered  in  its  development  if  forced  to  learn  by  some 
specified  method.  There  was  one  girl  in  grade  II.  who  fell,  in  gen- 
eral form,  from  h  in  the  choice  test  to  /  in  the  imagination  test ;  and 
her  loss  in  detail  and  proportion  was  nearly  as  great.  This  time,  at 
least,  the  girl  was  hindered  in  her  learning  by  having  to  learn 
by  the  imagination  method.  She  however  ranked  quite  high  in  the 
motor  test. 

While  the  tabulated  results  show  that  the  majority  of  the  chil- 
dren gained  in  the  motor  test,  there  were  very  few  cases  where  there 
was  a  great  difference.  There  was  one  boy  in  Grade  II.  who  gained 
from  /  in  the  imagination  test  to  h  in  the  motor  for  general  form; 
in  details  he  gained  from  1  to  4,  and  in  proportion  from  e  to  h.  This 
shows  again  the  great  value  of  the  motor  method  of  learning  for 
some  individuals,  especially  young  children. 

Although  this  study  is  made  of  the  learning  of  visual  forms  and 
seems  very  narrow,  it  may  be  applied  to  many  phases  of  the  school 
work.  In  the  map  drawing  in  the  higher  grades  it  should  be  remem- 
bered that  it  is  important  that  the  children  shall  have  plenty  of 
practice  in  drawing  the  maps  and  that  they  shall  have  an  image 
of  the  map.  In  the  manual  training  department,  a  knowledge  of 
how  to  use  the  tools  will  not  suffice.  There  must  be  practice  in  using 
them.  Also  in  the  study  of  the  sciences,  we  find  this  recognized 
and  see  that  in  a  great  many  schools,  the  pupils  try  the  experiments 
themselves  instead  of  merely  getting  an  image  of  the  results  from 
descriptions  which  they  read  in  books  or  which  the  teacher  gives 
them.  When  the  small  children  are  learning  to  read,  it  helps  to 
impress  it  more  deeply  upon  their  minds  if  when  they  are  learning 
a  new  word,  they  learn  to  speak  it,  as  well  as  get  an  image  of  its 
form.  Thus  we  find  that  in  all  the  school  work,  when  possible, 
the  children  should  ' '  learn  to  do  by  doing. ' ' 


THESIS  XII 

How    Children    Study 

By  Martha  Josephine  Baldwin 

Thesis.— The  following  questions  were  sent  to  teachers  in  the 
grades  and  high  school  to  be  answered  by  the  pupils: 

1.  How  long  did  you  spend  on  this  lesson? 
Was  it  a  study  period? 

2.  Were  you  interrupted  at  all? 

3.  How  did  you  try  to  learn  the  lesson? 

4.  How  did  you  know  you  had  your  lesson? 

The  pupils  were  not  allowed  to  see  the  following  question  until 
after  they  had  finished  the  preceding  ones  ? 

5a.  Did  you  try  to  learn  the  words  of  the  book? 

h.  Did  you  write  down  any  part? 

c.  Did  you  use  an  outline? 

Papers  were  received  from  the  sixth,  seventh,  eighth  and  ninth 
grades,  and  from  the  four  classes  of  the  high  school,  altogether 
numbering  four  hundred  and  five:  two  hundred  and  thirteen  girls 
and  one  hundred  and  ninety-two  boys. 

The  lessons  had  been  prepared  the  day  before  and  the  questions 
were  answered  upon  one  special  lesson:  history  in  the  sixth  and 
seventh  grades  and  in  the  freshman  and  sophomore  classes,  geography 
in  the  eighth,  grammar  in  the  ninth,  and  German  in  the  junior  and 
senior  classes.     Two  typical  papei-s  are  given  on  the  followingpages. 

Qif'l^  Subject,  Grammar. 

NintJi  Grade.  Age,  Fourteen. 

1.  I  spent  three  quarters  of  an  hour  on  the  lesson. 
It  was  a  study  period. 

2.  I  was  not  interrupted. 

3.  I  tried  to  learn  the  lesson  by  first  reading  it,  then  learning 
some  of  the  rules  by  heart. 

4.  I  knew  I  had  my  lesson  by  reciting  it  to  myself. 
5a.  I  did  not  try  to  learn  the  words  of  the  book. 

&.  I  wrote  a  little  down. 

c.  I  did  not  make  an  outline  for  any  part  of  it. 
Botj.  Subject,  History. 

Freshman.  Age,  Fifteen. 

1.  I  studied  my  lesson  fifty  minutes. 

65 


66 


STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND    LEARNINQ 


It  was  not  a  study  period. 

2.  My  dog  barked  and  I  had  to  go  to  speak  to  him. 

3.  Concentrated  myself  for  the  length  of  time  stated. 

4.  I  answered  the  questions  which  I  expected  Miss  B  would  ask  us. 
5a.  Partly. 

&.  I  did  not. 

c.  I  wrote  out  part  of  the  lesson. 

The  papers  received  were  studied  for  the  characteristics  shown 
by  the  answers  to  the  questions.  Then  I  obtained  from  the  high 
school  teachers,  records  of  the  pupils'  standing  received  in  the  studies 
concerning  which  these  papers  were  written  for  the  previous  eight 
weeks.     The  system  runs  in  A,  B,  C,  D ;  A  being  the  highest  mark. 

There  are  twelve  different  methods  of  study  used.  They  divide 
into  two  great  heads,  the  word  methods  or  studying  simply  words, 
and  the  thought  method,  illustrated  by  one  quotation  which  says 
"I  tried  to  understand  the  lesson  as  I  studied  it."  Under  the  first 
head  are  included  reading,  reading  and  reciting,  reading  and  writing, 
reading  by  sections,  reading  and  using  other  books,  and  learning 
by  heart.  The  thought  method  includes  reading  for  story,  reading  to 
understand,  concentrating  self,  try^ing  to  answer  questions,  finding 
important  facts,  and  merely  spending  time  required.  According  to 
Table  XVII.  it  is  found  that  82  per  cent,  of  the  children  used  the 
word  method  of  learning  as  shown  above,  leaving  a  very  small  per 
cent,  whose  answers  indicate  that  they  tried  in  any  way  to  under- 
stand the  content  of  the  text.  A  larger  per  cent,  of  girls  than  of 
boys  studied  by  the  thought  method. 


Boys 


TABLE    XVII 
How  Did  You  Study  Youb  Lesson? 

Grades 
Grammar  High 

G       S        k--^      »^  ►H 


>    >   > 


{Number 
Per  cent. 
Time 


11  16  32  22  34  5  24  8 
73  67  86  57,92  100  100  73 
20  18  44  43  49    69    71    97 


[Number     4    8     5  17 

Thought^  Percent.  27  33  14  43 

[Time        [25  20  30  34 


85 


3  16  15  31  20  21  17  18  8  1 
75  76  56  76  83  78  94  90  89  100 
27    20  23  55  17  46  47    45    54    75 


1  5  12  10  461  2  1 
25  24  44  24  17  22  6  10  11 
20    23  19  43  54  41  90    56    56 


Girls 

(Number  112  17  30  24151  12    28      91     3  16  27  24  47  23  24    10      8      1 

Word]  Percent.  92  23  23  33  18  92  100  100  100  84  82  75  91  26  92  100  100  100 

[Time        27  19  27  40  60  69    78    46    30  24  21  39  45  62  58    48    62    65 


{Number 
Percent. 
Time 


14    7    8 

8  77  77  67 

15  30  20  40 


9      1 

82      8 
63    69 


3    6    8    5    6     2 

16  18  25    9  74    8 

17  30  63  53  48  65 


> 


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HOW    CHILDREN    STUDY  (57 


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STUDIES   IN   DEVELOPMENT   AND   LEARNING 


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HOW    CHILDREN    STUDY 


69 


There  are  two  of  the  twelve  divisions  which  take  the  lead.  The 
first  is  reading,  which  is  used  in  the  case  of  twenty-five  per  cent,  of 
both  boys  and  girls,  being  more  popular  with  the  boys.  The  other 
prominent  method  is  that  of  reading  and  using  other  books.  Twenty 
per  cent,  of  all  the  papers  show  the  use  of  this  method,  which  is 
employed  more  by  the  girls  than  by  the  boys.  In  contrast  with  the 
simple  reading  method,  this  is  used  much  more  in  the  high  school 
than  in  the  grades,  especially  in  the  junior  class.  This  is  doubtless 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  papers  came  from  German  classes  where  the 
translation  was  done  by  the  use  of  the  German  dictionary.  In  the 
ages,  this  method  is  used  very  much  by  the  older  pupils. 


Tests  • 


Tests  • 


No  tests  ■ 


TABLE    XX 

How  Did  You 

Know  You  Had 

YouB  Lesson? 

Boys 

VI 

VII  VIII 

IX    IV  III    II     I 

10     11     12    13    14    15    16    17 

18 

19 

Number 

7 

14 

25 

21 

36    4     6    9 

3  10  19  25  25  17  12    3 

7 

1 

Per  cent. 

47 

67 

74 

62 

67  57  43  38 

43  59  62  64  63  56  67  23 

70 

20 

Number 

8 

7 

9 

13 

8    3    9  15 

4    7  12  14    5  13    6  10 

3 

4 

Per  cent. 

53 

33 

26 

38 

33  43  57  62 

57  46  38  36  37  44  33  77 

30 

80 

Girls 

Number 

10 

6 

30 

33    38  13  11     5 

3  13  18  29  32  24  18    4 

4 

1 

Per  cent. 

67 

43 

79 

94    83  81  63  55 

60  57  64  94  87  80  77  45 

75 

100 

Number 

5 

8 

8 

2     8     3    5    5 

2  10  10    2    5    6    3    5 

1 

Per  cent. 

33 

57 

21 

6 

17  19  37  50 

40  43  36     6  13  20  23  55 

25 

Table  XIX.  shows  how  the  pupils  knew  they  had  their  lessons. 
Table  XX.  shows  the  same,  only  in  different  divisions,  which  are  two, 
one  in  which  the  pupils  tested  themselves  in  some  definite  way  and 
one  where  no  definite  tests  were  employed.  It  was  found  that  higher 
marks  were  obtained  by  those  using  some  sort  of  test.  Boys  of 
thirteen  and  sixteen  and  girls  of  thirteen  and  fourteen  used  tests 
more  than  those  of  any  other  age. 

Of  the  nine  classes  of  tests  represented  by  the  headings  and  quo- 
tations of  Table  XX.  the  most  prevailing  is  the  second,  which  is  the 
proof  by  reciting  either  to  one's  self  or  to  some  one  else  by  topics. 
Fifty-six  per  cent,  of  all  used  this  test  and  it  seems  more  popular 
among  the  girls.  It  is  used  more  in  the  high  school  and  most  in  the 
freshman  class.  The  ages  thirteen,  fourteen  and  fifteen  are  the 
ones  that  used  it  most. 

On  comparing  the  results  of  my  inquiry  with  the  standing  of  the 
pupils  in  their  studies,  it  was  found  that  the  average  time  spent 
in  obtaining  the  highest  mark  was  sixty  minutes,  the  girls  spending 
more  time  than  the  boys  and  the  juniors  and  the  seniors  using  the 
most.  The  preparation  was  at  home,  usually  the  pupils  not  being 
interrupted.     The  largest  per  cent,  of  those  who  obtained  the  highest 


70  STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND   LEARNING 

mark  used  the  simple  reading  method,  with  nearly  as  many  referring 
also  to  other  books. 

In  obtaining  the  mark  B,  the  average  time  spent  was  sixty  one 
minutes,  the  boys  spending  more  time  than  the  girls,  and  the  fresh- 
man class  required  more  than  thg  others.  Here,  also,  the  lessons 
were  prepared  at  home  in  the  afternoon  with  no  interruptions.  The 
method  most  used  was  that  of  reading  and  using  other  books. 

A  little  more  time  was  spent  in  obtaining  the  mark  C,  that  is, 
sixty  nine  minutes  and  the  boys  spent  more  time  than  the  girls. 
This  preparation  was  also  at  home  and  in  the  afternoon,  although 
the  boys  of  the  higher  classes  studied  in  the  evening.  They  were 
not  interrupted  to  any  great  extent  and  forty-four  per  cent,  used 
the  methods  of  reading  and  using  other  books,  which  applies  more  to 
the  girls. 

The  greatest  interest  in  the  marks  centers  in  the  lowest  one,  for 
those  receiving  D  were  all  boys,  and  the  average  time  spent  was  one 
hundred  and  fifty  minutes.  They  all  studied  at  school  with  recita- 
tions going  on  around  them  and  they  were  interrupted.  The  com- 
mon method  was  reading,  over  and  over  again. 

In  drawing  conclusions  from  these  studies,  the  first  which  comes 
up  is  that  the  children  study  words  rather  than  thoughts,  that  they 
study  in  a  mechanical  sort  of  way,  which  enables  them  to  say  they 
have  studied  the  lesson  and  spent  the  time  required.  They  read  the 
words  over  and  over,  and  doubtless  get  more  confused  the  more  they 
read. 

This  seems  to  me  a  great  fault.  Children  should  study  to  under- 
stand what  they  read  and  it  will  prove  a  quicker  and  surer  method. 
This  is  one  problem  for  teachers  to  solve,  and  it  is  certainly  a  very 
important  one. 

G.  Stanley  Hall  says  that  at  least  three  fourths  of  the  time  spent 
by  a  boy  of  twelve  in  trying  to  learn  a  hard  lesson  out  of  a  book, 
is  time  thrown  away,  not  in  deliberate  idling,  but  through  uncon- 
scious mind  wandering,  lack  of  concentration,  the  unwise  attempts  of 
memorizing  words  of  the  text  without  proper  assimilation  of 
thoughts. 

One  most  serious  side  of  the  problem  is  that  most  of  the  loss  is 
experienced  by  boys  and  girls  who  are  trying  hard  to  master  the 
lesson. 


THESIS  XIII 
An   Experimental   Study   of   Musical   Learning 
By  Mary  G.  Gilles 

Thesis. — This  study  was  made  to  ascertain  the  different  methods 
employed  in  learning  and  remembering  a  series  of  tones  and  the  best 
method  of  doing  the  same. 

The  reagents  were  nine  normal  school  students,  two  instructors, 
and  eight  children  from  grades  five  to  eight,  and  two  high  school 
students,  making  a  total  of  twenty-one.  Of  this  number  nineteen 
have  had  practice,  varying  from  considerable  to  a  very  little,  in 
either  playing  or  singing  or  both,  one  sang  by  note  only  and  one 
could  neither  sing  or  play,  and  had  no  knowledge  of  notation,  the 
keyboard  or  the  relation  of  one  tone  to  another  though  he  could  dis- 
criminate tones  higher  or  lower  than  a  given  tone. 

The  experiment  was  made  in  four  ways,  the  instrument  used 
being  a  piano. 

I  shall  refer  to  the  different  parts  of  the  experiment  as  test  I.,  II., 

III.  and  IV.  Test  I.  consisted  of  a  series  of  fifteen  notes  played  to 
the  reagent,  who  reproduced  them  from  memory  on  the  piano.  Test 
II.  comprised  a  series  of  fifteen  notes  which  the  reagent  read  from 
the  score  and  reproduced  from  memory  on  the  piano.  Test  III.  con- 
tained a  series  of  fourteen  notes.  These  the  reagent  read  and  played 
from  the  score  until  he  could  reproduce  them  from  memory.     Test 

IV.  was  made  up  of  a  series  of  thirteen  notes.  They  were  played  to 
the  reagent  who  followed  the  score  at  the  same  time,  completing  the 
test  by  reproducing  from  memory. 

The  reagent  was  not  limited  as  to  time  or  number  of  trials  but  he 
attempted  to  reproduce  as  soon  as  he  thought  he  could  do  so. 

The  children  often  tried  to  reproduce  before  they  were  able  to  do 
so,  seeming  to  depend  upon  the  trial  and  success  method,  while  the 
adults,  in  most  instances,  did  not  attempt  to  reproduce  from  memory 
I  until  they  were  fairly  sure  they  could  reproduce  correctly,  yet  after 

reproducing  they  w^ere  not  always  sure  that  they  had  done  it  cor- 
rectly. 

It  was  noticeable  that  the  first  and  last  tones  were  reproduced 
more  quickly  and  more  accurately  than  the  intervening  ones,  by  both 
children  and  adults.  This  fact  has  been  found  to  be  true  in  all 
memory  tests. 

71 


72  STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND    LEARNING 

The  children  almost  invariably  began  with  the  feeling  that  they 
couldn't  do  what  was  asked  of  them.  They  underestimated  their 
ability  and  in  many  cases  said  they  had  reproduced  the  tones  incor- 
rectly simply  because  they  thought  it  beyond  them  to  do  it.  How- 
ever by  encouraging  them  and  naming  some  of  their  little  friends 
who  had  taken  the  tests,  and  said  it  was  great  fun,  I  succeeded  in 
overcoming  this  fear. 

Several  of  the  adults  and  the  children  noticed  the  scale  form  in 
some  of  the  series  of  tones  given,  and  in  that  way  recognized  the 
series  in  less  time  than  they  would  have  otherwise. 

Six  of  the  adults  failed  to  recognize  a  series  as  correct  after  play- 
ing it  so,  and  three  failed  to  recognize  it  as  wrong  when  it  was  wrong. 
Six  of  the  children  were  troubled  in  a  similar  way  and  made  the 
error  more  than  once.  Four  played  a  series  wrong,  thinking  it  right, 
and  made  this  mistake  from  one  to  four  times. 

Three  distinct  methods  were  used  by  the  reagents,  sound,  symbol 
and  visual.     Combinations  of  these  three  were  used  to  some  extent. 

The  symbol  method  involved  the  use  of  syllables,  numbers  and 
letters.  The  visual  included  a  visual  image  of  the  keyboard  or  a  key 
as  representing  a  given  tone,  the  position  of  the  notes  on  the  staff  or 
their  relative  position  when  representing  tones. 

It  is  readily  seen  that  test  I.  affords  a  greater  opportunity  for  the 
use  of  the  sound  method  than  any  other  test.  Test  II.  is  more 
favorable  for  the  use  of  the  visual  method.  In  tests  III.  and  IV. 
there  is  occasion  to  use  both  the  sound  and  visual  methods  equally. 

Table  XXI  shows  the  number  of  children  and  adults  that  used 
each  method.  The  children  used  the  sound  method  the  greatest 
number  of  times,  twelve,  and  the  adults  the  sound  and  visual 
methods,  each  twelve  times. 

The  adults  used  visual  memory  more  than  the  children,  which 
supports  the  statement  made  by  Colegrove  that  "Visual  stimuli 
usually  make  the  strongest  appeal  to  adults,  excepting  during  sleep 
and  repose."  There  is  a  great  tendency  as  age  increases  to  use  the 
visual  memory.  Only  in  one  instance  did  a  child  under  thirteen 
use  visual  imagery,  while  all  the  adults,  with  the  exception  of  one, 
made  more  or  less  use  of  it.  The  children  used  the  symbol  method 
to  a  greater  extent  than  the  visual  memory.  They  used  it  to  a 
greater  extent  than  the  adults,  probably  because  in  school  they  are 
taught  to  read  notes  by  means  of  symbols,  which  would  naturally 
influence  them  to  remember  not  by  the  relative  position  of  one  note 
to  another,  but  in  terms  of  another  and  more  familiar  system  of 
remembering. 

From  the  table  it  follows  that  both  the  adults  and  children  com- 


EXPERIMENTAL    STUDY    OF    MUSICAL    LEARNING 


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74  STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND    LEARNING 

pleted  test  III.  in  the  least  time  and  with  the  least  number  of  trials, 
the  adults  taking  less  time  than  the  children  and  fewer  trials  in 
either  case,  although  there  is  no  marked  difference. 

Both  adults  and  children  had  the  poorest  record  in  test  I.,  it 
taking  the  children  more  than  twice  as  long  as  the  adults  and  three 
times  the  number  of  trials. 

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required  the  least  time  for  the  children  and  the  auditory  for  the 
adults. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  symbol  method  took  the  least  time  for 
the  children  and  the  greatest  for  the  adults,  the  latter  even  requir- 
ing more  time  than  the  former.  This  is  the  only  instance  in  which 
the  adult  requires  more  time  than  the  children.  It  would  seem 
from  this  that  time  is  lost  if  we  try  to  fit  things  into  a  system  with 
which  we  are  not  very  familiar,  but  if  we  use  the  system  of  remem- 
bering with  which  we  are  most  familiar  time  is  gained,  and  the  use 
of  the  trial  and  success  method  is  eliminated. 

With  both  children  and  adults,  this  symbol  method  required  the 
least  number  of  trials,  and  the  visual  the  greatest,  which  seems  to 
indicate  that  we  can  depend  upon  our  visual  memory  the  least  in 
memory  of  musical  notes,  and  that  when  we  have  a  system  into  which 
to  fit  things  our  power  of  recall  is  surer.  The  children  seem  to  use 
this  method  of  remembering  more  than  the  adults. 

Table  XXII.  represents  the  number  that  used  different  methods, 
of  those  who  play  by  ear  or  do  not,  and  those  who  play  from 
memory  or  do  not.  For  convenience  I  will  refer  to  them  as  groups 
a,  b,  c  and  d.  Three  children  were  placed  in  group  a  and  seven  in 
group  b.  It  is  more  than  probable  that  most  of  those  in  the  latter 
group  could  play  by  ear  if  they  tried,  but  had  never  attempted 
to  do  so  before  this  experiment.  Seven  adults  were  placed  in  group 
b  and  four  in  group  a. 

The  children  in  groups  a  and  b  used  the  sound  method  to  the 
greatest  extent.  The  visual  method  was  not  used  at  all  by  those  in 
group  a,  and  was  made  considerable  use  of  by  those  in  group  b. 

The  adults  in  group  a  used  the  sound  method  the  greatest  number 
of  times,  while  those  in  group  b  used  the  visual. 

Both  children  and  adults  belonging  to  group  b  used  the  visual 
method  more  than  those  of  group  a. 

All  the  children  and  eight  adults  were  placed  in  group  c,  and  the 
remaining  three  adults  were  placed  in  group  d.  Group  c  contains 
those  who  play  from  memory,  and  group  d  those  who  are  unable 
to  do  so. 

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EXPERIMENTAL    STUDY   OF    MUSICAL    LEARNING  75 


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76  STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND   LEARyiXG 

greatest  number  of  times  and  those  of  group  d  the  least,  substituting 
the  visual  for  it. 

From  a  survey  of  the  Avhole,  it  seems  that  the  auditory  memory 
is  most  essential  to  musicians,  and  if  they  are  lacking-  in  this,  adults 
rely  uj^on  the  visual  memory,  and  the  ehiklren  upon  a  system  with 
which  they  are  more  familiar  and  into  which  they  can  fit  the  thing 
to  be  remembered,  for  example,  the  use  of  the  symbols. 

As  age  increases  there  is  a  great  tendency  to  use  the  visual 
memory.  Visual  memory  is  better  for  the  older  students  because  it 
is  employed  more  by  them. 

The  motor  memory  is  important  in  connnitting  to  memory.  In 
several  cases  I  noticed  a  movement  of  the  fingers  or  the  lips,  and  in 
some  cases  the  symbols  were  said  aloud  or  were  sung. 

The  usual  practice  method  of  musicians  seems  to  be  without  doubt 
the  best  method  of  learning. 

There  were  many  individual  peculiarities.  One  boy  took  note 
of  the  highest  tone  played,  which  showed  that  he  reasoned  about  it, 
taking  less  time,  fewer  trials,  and  having  to  hear  it  the  least  number 
of  times  of  all  the  children.  His  record  too  was  better  than  that  of 
many  of  the  adults. 

Another  child  belonged  to  a  family,  several  of  which  were  very 
fine  musicians.  She  herself  played  well,  but  could  not  play  by  ear, 
as  could  none  of  her  relatives.  It  took  her  fifty-five  minutes  to  com- 
plete the  first  test,  thirty  trials,  and  she  was  obliged  to  hear  it  played 
forty-nine  times.  Then  in  order  for  her  to  get  it,  I  had  to  offer  sug- 
gestions, and  call  her  attention  to  the  relation  of  one  tone  to  another. 
One  particular  tone,  a,  she  couldn't  place,  and  although  she  played 
the  series  twice  correctly,  she  didn't  realize  it.  Finally  she  became 
assured  that  it  was  correct  by  comparison,  listening  intently  to  the 
series  after  having  played  it  herself. 

Of  the  two  who  could  not  play  the  piano,  I  noticed  a  similarity 
in  the  manner  of  learning.  They  were  given  just  enough  instruc- 
tion to  enable  them  to  perform  the  tests.  They  arranged  the  notes 
or  tones  into  three  groups,  but  not  by  measures,  as  one  would  natu- 
rally think.  A  series  of  tones,  one  following  the  other  in  succession, 
fonned  one  group,  then  the  repetition  of  two  tones  determined  the 
end  of  a  second  group,  and  the  third  group  included  the  remaining 
tones.  They  repeated  these  groups  several  times,  one  more  than 
another,  and  made  no  attempt  to  play  from  memory  until  quite  sure 
they  could  remember  it.     Both  depended  on  the  sjonbols  largely. 

One  of  these  two  I  have  just  mentioned,  f,  took  twenty-five 
minutes  for  the  completion  of  the  test,  while  it  took  one  very  pro- 
ficient in  the  art  of  music  only  a  minute.     In  another  test  f  took 


EXPERIMENTAL    STUDY    OF    MUSICAL    LEARNING  77 


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78  STUDIES   IN   DEVELOPMENT   AND   LEARNING 

eighteen  minutes,  while  the  musician  required  only  thirty  seconds. 
Not  age,  but  training  is  probably  the  secret  of  whatever  greater 
ability  the  older  classes  possess.  It  is  true  that  system  is  the  secret 
of  memory.  But  system  depends  on  the  discovery  of  distinctions 
unnoted  by  the  unsystematic,  which  constitute  threads  of  connection 
between  details.  It  elevates  the  association  between  these  details 
from  a  mere  serial  association  by  contiguity  to  a  simultaneous  asso- 
ciation in  which  similarity  plays  a  most  important  part.  The  kind 
of  connection  that  makes  all  these  details  one  thought  may  absorb 
them  so  that  in  recall  their  separate  existence  is  lost.  System  is  the 
secret  of  remembering,  but  also  of  forgetting  whatever  it  finds  in- 
convenient or  unneoessary. 


THESIS    XIV 

Incidental  Memory 

By  Isabel  Wallace 

Thesis. — Much  of  what  we  remember  has  been  learned  without 
conscious  effort.  During  the  first  few  years  of  his  life,  when  more  is 
learned  than  during  any  later  period,  a  large  part  of  the  knowledge 
gained  is  acquired  without  volition  on  the  part  of  the  child.  Neither 
does  the  acquisition  without  effort  cease  at  the  end  of  these  few  years. 

The  data  for  this  thesis  were  taken  in  connection  with  an  illus- 
trated lecture  on  Hiawatha.  The  lecture  was  given  in  the  main  hall 
of  the  normal  school,  and  it  was  attended  by  the  normal  school 
students  and  the  pupils  from  the  fourth  to  the  eighth  grades.  Ques- 
tions were  asked  which  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  lecture  itself, 
but  were  of  things  purely  incidental. 

The  questions  about  the  lecture  were  asked  about  four  weeks  after 
the  lecture  was  delivered.  Therefore  what  was  remembered  at  that 
time  would  probably  be  retained  much  longer.  I  received  eighty 
papers  from  the  normal  school  students,  and  two  hundred  and  sixteen 
from  the  children  from  the  fourth  to  the  eighth  grades. 

The  first  question  was:  "When  did  Mr.  Kempton  lecture  at  the 
normal  school?  Give  the  date  and  the  hour."  The  normal  school 
students  had  a  much  higher  per  cent,  of  correct  answers  than  the 
grade  pupils. 

The  following  give  an  idea  of  the  answers  received: 
Normal  School  Pupils: 

"December  21,  from  about  half  past  ten  to  twelve  o'clock.  I 
thought  about  the  lecture  for  a  moment  and  the  remembrance  came 
to  me  that  it  was  just  before  the  vacation.  I  thought  of  the  day  on 
which  Christmas  came,  then  counted  and  found  that  Friday  came 
the  twenty-first." 

"Mr.  Kempton  lectured  on  Hiawatha  the  Frida}'-  before  the 
Christmas  vacation — Dec.  21,  1906.  The  time  was  10 :30  in  the  morn- 
ing. I  remembered  the  day  because  Howard  was  married  on  Tues- 
day the  twenty-fifth  and  the  Friday  before  was  therefore  the  twenty- 
first." 

"Mr.  Kempton  lectured  on  Hiawatha  Dec.  23,  1906.  The  lecture 
was  on  Friday  and  came  at  10  :40  A.  M. 

"He  gave  it  on  Friday  afternoon  between  four  and  five.     I  re- 

79 


80  STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND   LEARNING 

member  it  was  about  five  because  I  did  not  have  to  wait  long  after 
the  lecture  until  supper." 

"It  was  Wednesday  before  the  Thanksgiving  recess.  I  remember 
because  we  went  home  that  day. ' ' 

An  eighth  grade  boy:  ''Mr.  Kempton  lectured  Dec.  28,  1906,  at 
half  past  two  in  the  afternoon. ' ' 

A  fourth  grade  boy:  "Before  Christmas." 

The  normal  school  pupils  acknowledged  that  they  used  reason  as 
well  as  memory  in  answering  questions.  They  thought  first  that  the 
lecture  came  before  a  vacation  and  then  they  calculated  the  date. 
Some  did  not  think  of  the  right  vacation,  while  one  thought  that 
supper  rather  than  dinner  followed  the  lecture.  The  answers  of  the 
normal  and  the  eighth  grade  pupils  include  more  details  than  the 
answers  of  the  children  in  the  lower  grades. 

The  second  question  was :  ' '  What  color  was  his  suit  ? ' ' 
The  normal  school  students: 

"His  clothes  were  of  dark  mixed  goods." 

'  *  I  think  his  clothes  were  black. ' ' 

An  eighth  grade  boy:  "His  suit  was  blue." 

A  sixth  grade  girl :  ' '  His  suit  was  gray. ' ' 

A  fourth  grade  boy:  "Dark." 

Several  said  that  they  could  not  see  the  color  of  his  suit  because 
the  lights  were  turned  out  and  some  of  the  reasons  for  the  answers 
were  peculiar.  For  instance,  "He  wore  a  dark  suit  such  as  all  men 
wear."  "He  has  always  worn  black."  These  indicate  that  some 
relied  on  their  previous  knowledge  and  not  upon  their  memory  of 
the  particular  individual  and  day. 

The  third  question  was:  "From  what  did  he  read?" 
The  normal  school  pupils : 

"He  read  from  a  book  which  had  limp  covers,  for  he  folded  one 
side  of  the  book  back. ' ' 

"He  read  from  a  book  about  three  fourths  of  an  inch  thick." 

"He  read  from  small  sized  note  paper." 

An  eighth  grade  girl:  "He  read  from  a  book." 

A  sixth  grade  boy:  "He  read  from  the  poem." 

A  fifth  grade  girl:  "He  read  out  of  a  little  book  of  Longfellow's 
poems. ' ' 

The  fourth  question  was :  ' '  Who  managed  the  lantern  ? ' ' 
The  normal  school  students : 

"A  lady  managed  the  lantern." 

"The  man  who  managed  the  lantern  has  acted  in  the  same 
capacity  here  before." 

"Mrs.  Kempton  managed  the  lantern." 


IXCIDENTAL    MEMORY  81 

A  boy  in  the  fifth  grade:  "Mrs.  Kempton." 

A  fifth  grade  boy:  "Mr.  Alexander  managed  the  lantern." 

A  fourth  grade  boy:  "Mr.  Thompson  managed  the  lantern." 

A  fourth  grade  girl:  "The  minister  from  the  C.  C.  church." 

The  per  cent,  of  the  sixth  grade  children  who  were  able  to  answer 
the  question  was  very  low.  (The  children  in  this  grade  had  been 
told  by  their  teacher  not  to  look  around  the  hall.) 

The  fifth  question  was :  ' '  Describe  the  clothing  of  the  person 
who  managed  the  lantern. ' ' 
The  normal  school  pupils: 

"She  had  on  a  light  waist  and  a  black  skirt." 

"She  wore  a  white  waist  and  a  dark  skirt." 

"A  striped  waist  and  a  dark  skirt." 

"A  light  cape  and  no  hat." 

An  eighth  grade  boy:  "A  light  waist  and  a  blue  skirt." 

Another:  "A  plaid  waist  and  a  dark  skirt." 

A  sixth  grade  girl:  "She  wore  a  gray  suit." 

A  sixth  grade  boy:  "He  had  pants,  vest,  jacket,  necktie,  collar 
and  watch. ' ' 

A  fourth  grade  boy:  "She  had  pretty  clothes  on." 

There  is  a  great  variety  in  the  answers  to  this  question  because 
the  person  stood  at  the  back  of  the  hall  where  she  was  out  of  the 
range  of  vision  of  most  of  the  children.  Unless  they  saw  her  enter 
the  hall,  they  w^ere  obliged  to  turn  around  to  see  her.  Owing  ta 
the  fact  that  the  hall  was  darkened,  it  was  necessarily  difficult, 
to  obtain  an  idea  of  the  clothing.  IMany  of  the  answers  are  so  gen- 
eral that  they  would  apply  even  if  the  pupil  had  not  seen  Mrs.. 
Kempton. 

The  sixth  question  was :  ' '  Tell  me  about  any  change  in  the  light- 
ing of  the  hall." 
The  normal  school  pupils : 

"The  hall  was  darkened  by  the  shutters  over  all  the  windows. 
During  the  first  part  of  the  lecture,  the  electric  lights  were  on. 
When  Mr.  Kempton  was  ready  for  the  pictures,  the  lights  were 
turned  out.     They  were  on  again  for  the  audience  to  go  out. ' ' 

"When  we  went  in,  the  hall  was  as  usual.  Then  the  dark 
curtains  were  let  down.  After  Mr.  Kempton  had  read  a  few  mo- 
ments, the  lights  were  turned  on  until  he  was  ready  to  show  the 
pictures,  and  then  they  were  turned  off  again.  After  the  pictures, 
the  curtains  were  raised." 

An  eighth  grade  girl:  "The  curtains  were  pulled  down  and  the 
doors  closed." 

A  seventh  grade  girl:  "It  changed  from  red  to  green." 


82  STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND    LEARNING 

A  seventh  grade  boy :  '  *  The  curtains  were  drawn  and  the  electric 
lights  lighted." 

A  sixth  grade  girl:  ''The  lights  were  put  out." 

A  fifth  grade  girl :  ' '  Sometimes  it  was  dark,  at  other  times  light. ' ' 

A  fifth  grade  boy:  "Darkened." 

The  girl  who  answered  that  it  changed  from  red  to  green  must 
have  been  thinking  of  something  entirely  different.  It  was  noticeable 
that  the  normal  school  pupils  had  a  knowledge  of  the  order  in  the 
changes  made  in  the  lighting.  This  knowledge  was  not  contained  in 
the  answers  from  the  lower  grades,  but  almost  everyone  knew  that 
the  hall  was  darkened  during  the  time  when  the  pictures  were 
shown. 

The  seventh  question  was:  "Tell  anything  you  can  about  Mr. 
Thompson  (principal  of  the  normal  school)  during  the  lecture." 
The  normal  school  pupils : 

* '  Mr.  Thompson  introduced  the  speaker,  going  upon  the  platform : 
He  also  helped  to  pull  the  curtains." 

"Mr.  Thompson  helped  lower  the  curtains  and  introduced  Mr. 
Kempton.  After  it  was  over,  he  raised  some  of  the  curtains.  He 
asked  ]\Ir.  Alexander  if  he  had  anything  to  say  to  the  Edgerly 
pupils. ' ' 

An  eighth  grade  boy :  ' '  He  pronounced  the  name  of  Hiawatha. ' ' 

Another:  "Mr.  Thompson  was  quiet  and  sat  near  the  stage." 

Eighth  grade  girl:  "Mr.  Thompson  introduced  Mr.  Kempton." 

A  seventh  grade  boy:  "He  spoke." 

The  eighth  question  was :  ' '  Tell  me  anything  you  can  about  Mr. 
Alexander  during  the  lecture." 
The  normal  school  pupils: 

"Mr.  Alexander  had  charge  of  the  pupils  from  the  Edgerly.  He 
gave  an  announcement  to  the  Edgerly  School  children  at  the  close 
that  school  would  begin  again  after  the  Christmas  vacation. ' ' 

"Mr.  Alexander  stood  in  the  back  of  the  room  watching  the 
tihildren  and  when  they  were  making  a  disturbance  he  spoke  to 
them  quietly.  I  remember  that  he  watched  a  particular  group  of 
boys  and  spoke  to  them." 

A  girl  in  the  eighth  grade:  "He  placed  the  people  in  their  seats." 

Eighth  grade  boys:  "Mr.  Alexander  was  at  the  head  of  it  all." 

"Mr.  Alexander  was  a  chairman." 

A  seventh  grade  girl:  "He  saw  that  nobody  was  rude." 

A  sixth  grade  boy:  "He  helped  run  the  machine." 

The  children  seemed  better  able  to  answer  this  question  than  the 
previous  one.     They  are  more  familiar  with  Mr.   Alexander  and 


INCIDENTAL    MEMORY  83 

are  more  accustomed  to  watch  him  because  he  is  principal  of  the 
Edgerly  School. 

The  ninth  question  was :  '  *  What  kind  of  a  day  was  it  ? " 
The  normal  school  pupils: 

"It  was  a  dark,  rainy  day.  It  was  very  slushy.  I  remembered 
that  because  I  found  it  hard  walking  when  coming  to  school." 
"Pleasant  and  sunny  and  quite  cold."  "A  misty  day.  I  remember 
because  I  was  uncertain  about  taking  an  umbrella,  but  finally  sent 
it  back  to  my  room.  Also  very  slippery  and  slushy  under  foot, 
for  one  of  the  girls  fell  down  and  got  her  coat  wet." 

An  eighth  grade  boy:  "It  was  slippery." 

An  eighth  grade  girl :  "  It  was  dark  and  damp. '  * 

A  seventh  grade  girl :  "  It  was  muggy. ' ' 

A  fifth  grade  boy :  "  It  was  rainy. ' ' 

A  fourth  grade  girl :  "  It  was  cold. ' ' 

Any  of  the  answers  could  be  applied  to  this  particular  day,  as  the 
weather  was  decidedly  unsettled.  It  is  difficult  therefore  to  decide 
whether  the  pupils  actually  remembered  the  conditions  of  the  weather 
on  this  particular  day  or  not. 

The  tenth  question  was:  "Was  there  anything  except    the  lec- 
ture?" 
The  normal  school  pupils : 

"The  children  and  the  normal  school  students  sang  Christmas 
carols  before  the  lecture.  Miss  Perry  gave  out  the  names  of  the 
songs  and  played  the  accompaniments." 

An  eighth  grade  boy:  "There  were  colored  pictures." 

A  sixth  grade  girl:  "There  were  moving  pictures." 

A  fourth  grade  girl:  "We  sang  Christmas  songs." 

The   eleventh  question   was :   ' '  Did   anyone   come   in   the   front 
door  during  the  lecture?" 
The  normal  school  pupils : 

"Dr.  Chalmers  and  a  few  others  came  in  during  the  lecture." 
"Two  men  and  some  ladies  came  in  the  front  door." 

An  eighth  grade  boy:  "Ernest  Seton  Thompson  came  in  the 
front  door." 

A  fifth  grade  boy:  "Dr.  Chalmers  and  Mr.  Kratzer  came  in 
during  the  lecture." 

When  anyone  came  in  the  front  door,  the  contrast  between  the 
darkened  hall  and  the  light  corridor  attracted  attention.  This  is 
probably  the  reason  that  many  knew  that  some  people  came  in 
during  the  lecture.  Those  who  were  able  to  mention  names  had 
definite  knowledge.  The  boy  who  said  that  Ernest  Seton  Thompson 
came  in  the  front  door  may  have  referred  to  Principal  Thompson. 


84  STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND    LEARNING 

The  twelfth  question  was:  ''Were  there  any  decorations  in  the 
hall  and  what  was  there  on  the  platform? 
The  normal  school  pupils: 

"There  was  a  white  screen,  a  drawing  table,  a  chair  and  a  lantern 

on  the  stage." 

The  hall  was  decorated  with  autumn  leaves." 

' '  There  were  the  decorations  from  the  last  party. 

(These  last  two  show  that  the  individuals  were  thinking  of  some 
previous  lecture.) 

"Across  the  front  of  the  platform  a  large  white  curtain  was 
stretched.  To  the  right  of  the  curtain  was  a  drawing  table  used 
by  Mr.  Kempton  to  rest  his  book  and  his  light  upon.  There  was  a 
dark  red  curtain  upon  the  platform  when  the  moving  pictures  were 
shown.     There  was  a  fern  on  a  stand,  a  desk  and  a  chair. ' ' 

(The  curtain  was  white  and  this  person  must  have  been  thinking 
of  some  other  occasion.) 

A  seventh  grade  girl :  "  A  chair  and  a  glass  of  water  on  a  little 
stand. ' ' 

(She  must  have  had  in  mind  another  lecture  where  the  lecturer 
had  a  glass  of  water  as  there  was  none  on  the  platform  in  this  case.) 

In  preparing  the  tables  those  who  acknowledged  that  they  knew 
nothing  about  the  questions  were  grouped  with  those  whose  knowl- 
edge was  clearly  incorrect.  The  other  papers  were  grouped  to- 
gether as  having  knowledge  of  the  question. 

As  the  answers  cited  in  this  paper  indicate,  the  normal  school  stu- 
dents have  answered  at  greater  length  than  the  pupils  in  the  grades. 
They  have  given  more  details  and  many  gave  accounts  of  the  ways  in 
which  they  remembered.  The  greater  command  of  language  enabled 
the  normal  school  pupils  to  express  themselves  more  fluently  and  with 
a  greater  degree  of  accuracy.  The  pupils  in  the  higher  grades 
have  given  more  details  than  those  in  the  lower  ones. 

Reason  as  well  as  memory  was  used  in  answering  some  of  the 
questions.  This  was  especially  true  of  the  normal  school  pupils  and 
to  some  extent  of  those  of  the  grades.  The  questions  where  reason 
was  unquestionably  used  by  many  are  the  first,  for  many  acknowl- 
edged that  they  calculated  in  order  to  find  the  date;  the  sixth, 
because  in  order  to  show  stereopticon  views  we  know  that  the  hall 
must  be  darkened  and  also  the  twelfth  to  some  extent,  because  there 
must  have  been  something  on  wiiich  the  lecturer  could  place  his 
books  or  papers.    • 

Previous  knowledge  was  used  in  the  second,  where  an  answer 
which  could  be  applied  to  any  man  was  given;  in  the  fourth,  for 
many  knew  that  Mrs.  Kempton  often  manages  the  lantern  for  Mr. 


IXCIDEXTAL    MEMORY  85 

Kempton;  in  the  fifth  where  general  answers  were  given;  in  the 
sixth,  for  many  know  that  the  hall  is  always  darkened  for  a  stereop- 
ticon  lecture ;  in  the  seventh  because  many,  especially  normal  school 
students,  know  that  Mr.  Thompson  usually  introduces  the  speaker; 
and  in  the  eighth  because  Mr.  Alexander  usually  has  charge  of  the 
pupils  at  a  lecture. 

Some  used  direct  association  as  in  answering  the  question,  "From 
what  did  he  read?"  Some  evidently  answered  from  a  desire  to 
write  something  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  they  had  no  knowledge  of 
the  question. 

The  statistical  result  of  the  study  is  presented  in  tables  XXIV. 
and  XXV.,  which  show  the  per  cent,  of  boys  and  of  girls  of  each 
school  grade,  and  the  per  cent,  of  normal  school  students,  whose 
answers  to  each  question  showed  knowledge  of  the  fact. 

The  question  which  was  answered  with  the  greatest  degree  of 
accuracy  by  all  the  grades  was  the  third,  and  next  came  the  sixth 
and  ninth.  The  questions  which  were  answered  better  by  the  lower 
grades  than  the  higher  were  the  third,  the  tenth,  and  the  eleventh. 
There  is  no  regular  decrease  according  to  grades  in  any  of  the  ques- 
tions. Girls  are  seen  to  have  more  ability  to  remember  incidentally 
than  boys. 


Normal 

8th  Grade 

7th  Grade 

6th  Grade 

5th  Grade 

4th  Grade 

79i 

67xV 

64|^ 

53i 

651 

61 1 

This  table  shows  the  final  total  averages  and  it  indicates  that 
there  is  no  very  marked  difference  in  the  per  cents.  The  per  cent, 
of  the  normal  school  pupils  is  the  highest,  but  the  decrease  in  passing 
to  lower  grades  is  not  regular.  Considering  that  the  normal  school 
pupils  and  the  higher  grades  have  greater  ability  to  reason  and  also 
a  greater  amount  of  knowledge  upon  which  to  rely,  they  show  no 
remarkable  gain  in  the  amount  remembered  incidentally.  The  dif- 
ferences in  incidental  memory  seem  to  be  due  to  natural  individual 
differences. 

For  instance  one  person  of  my  acquaintance  has  a  remarkable 
power  to  remember  the  clothing  of  individuals.  This  person  is  able 
at  the  close  of  the  day  to  describe  the  clothing  of  every  teacher, 
and  of  many  of  her  acquaintances.  Seemingly  after  a  mere  glance 
she  will  describe  in  detail  the  clothing  of  a  person  whom  she  meets  on 
the  street.  In  marked  contrast  to  this  person  is  another  who  seldom 
notices  a  person's  clothing  unless  something  unusual  attracts.  This 
latter  person  is  more  apt  to  notice  what  a  person  says  than  what  he 
wears. 


86 


STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND   LEARNING 


Another  acquaintance  can  tell  many  of  the  peculiar  habits  of 
her  associates.  Various  attitudes,  tricks  of  expression,  favorite 
phrases,  and  different  mannerisms  are  associated  with  her  mental 
images  of  the  persons  with  whom  she  comes  in  contact.  She  is  able 
to  tell  just  what  certain  persons  have  done  during  the  day  and  the 
attitudes  they  have  assumed  under  various  conditions. 

One  person  acknowledges  that  he  is  remarkably  defective  along 
the  line  of  incidental  memory.     He  can  drive  all  day  and  not  be  able 


TABLE    XXIV 

Boys 

8 

Number  of  papers,  25 

Question  I. 

Per  cent,  with  knowledge,  16 

Per  cent,  with  no  knowledge,  84 

Question  II. 

Per  cent,  with  knowledge,  88 

Per  cent,  with  no  knowledge,  12 

Question  III. 

Per  cent,  with  knowledge,  96 

Per  cent,  with  no  knowledge,  4 

Question  IV. 

Per  cent,  with  knowledge,  84 

Per  cent,  with  no  knowledge,  16 

Question  V. 

Per  cent,  with  knowledge,  52 

Per  cent,  with  no  knowledge,  48 

Question  VI. 

Per  cent,  with  knowledge,  76 

Per  cent,  with  no  loiowledge,  24 

Question  VII. 

Per  cent,  with  knowledge,  56 

Per  cent,  with  no  knowledge,  44 

Question  VIII. 

Per  cent,  with  knowledge,  60 

Per  cent,  with  no  knowledge,  40 

Question  IX. 

Per  cent,  with  knowledge,  74 

Per  cent,  with  no  knowledge,  26 

Question  X. 

Per  cent,  with  knowledge,  32 

Per  cent,  with  no  knowledge,  68 

Question  XI. 

Per  cent,  with  knowledge,  80 

Per  cent,  with  no  knowledge,  20 

Question  XII. 

Per  cent,  with  knowledge,  60 

Per  cent,  with  no  knowledge,  40 


Grades 
7       6 
25     19 


0 
100 

72 
28 

92 
8 

80 
20 

28 
72 


32 

44 
56 

64 
36 

84 
16 

48 
52 

68 
32 

40 
60 


5 
95 

74 
26 

100 
0 

68 
32 

32 

68 

84 
16 

63 
37 

43 
57 

95 
5 

43 
57 

43 

57 

48 
52 


5 

17 

0 
100 

88 
12 

100 
0 

77 
23 

47 
53 

71 
29 

47 
53 

59 
41 

100 
0 

53 
47 

83 
17 

48 
52 


4 
19 

10 
90 

68 
32 

84 
16 

63 
37 

38 
62 

63 
37 

48 
52 

63 
37 

95 
5 

63 
37 

74 
26 

37 
63 


INCIDENTAL    MEMORY 


87 


to  tell  the  color  of  the  horse!  He  even  was  so  unfamiliar  with  his 
daughter's  best  coat  that  he  sent  it  off  in  a  missionary  box.  These 
are  a  few  instances  of  the  remarkable  differences  in  the  memories 
of  individuals. 

In  a  study  supplementary  to  the  one  about  the  lecture,  quotations 
were  put  upon  the  blackboard  for  the  normal  school  students  and 
for  the  pupils  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades.  The  quotations  were 
on  blackboards  which  were  seen  by  the  pupils  every  day.     Nothing 


TABLE    XXV 
Girls. 


Number   of  papers, 

Question  I. 

Per  cent,  with  knowledge, 

Per  cent,  with  no  knowledge, 

Question  II. 

Per  cent,  with  knowledge, 

Per  cent,  with  no  knowledge, 

Question  III. 

Per  cent,  with  knowledge. 

Per  cent,  with  no  knowledge. 

Question  IV. 

Per  cent,  with  knowledge. 

Per  cent,  with  no  knowledge, 

Question  V. 

Per  cent,  with  knowledge. 

Per  cent,  with  no  knowledge, 

Question  VI. 

Per  cent,  with  knowledge, 

Per  cent,  with  no  knowledge, 

Question  VII. 

Per  cent,  with  knowledge. 

Per  cent,  with  no  knowledge. 

Question  VIII. 

Per  cent,  with  knowledge, 

Per  cent,  with  no  knowledge. 

Question  IX. 

Per  cent,  with  knowledge. 

Per  cent,  with  no  knowledge, 

Question  X. 

Per  cent,  with  knowledge. 

Per  cent,  with  no  knowledge, 

Question  XI. 

Per  cent,  with  knowledge. 

Per  cent,  with  no  knowledge, 

Question  XII. 

Per  cent,  with  knowledge. 

Per  cent,  with  no  knowledge. 


21 

53 

47 

95 
5 

100 
0 

95 
5 

90 
10 

95 
5 

72 
28 

74 
26 

95 
5 

43 
57 

48 
52 

32 

68 


7 
32 

3 

97 


12 

97 
3 

78 
22 

63 
37 

94 


38 
62 

53 
47 

91 


66 
34 

78 
22 

75 
25 


Grades 
6 
26 

0 
100 

63 
27 

89 
11 

43 
57 

34 
66 

96 
4 

27 
73 

62 
38 

96 
4 

85 
15 

69 
31 

44 
56 


5 

17 


94 


12 

100 
0 

54 
46 

66 
34 

94 
6 

59 
41 

59 
41 

88 
12 

59 
41 

71 

29 

18 

82 


4 
15 

6 
94 

87 
13 

100 
0 

60 
40 

20 

80 

100 
0 

74 
26 

47 
53 

94 
6 

74 
26 

74 
26 

21 
79 


Normal 

School 

84 

60 
40 

87 
13 

86 
14 

84 
16 

59 
41 

95 
5 

79 
21 

89 
11 

100 


85 
15 

69 
31 

57 
43 


gg  STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT    AND    LEARNING 

was  said  about  the  quotations  and  no  questions  in  regard  to  them 
were  asked.  They  were  left  upon  the  boards  about  four  weeks, 
after  which  they  were  erased  and  the  pupils  were  requested  to  write 
them  from  memory. 

The  quotations  were  chosen  with  reference  to  the  age  and  ability 
of  the  pupils.     The  one  for  the  normal  school  pupils  was : 

"Character  is  higher  than  intellect;  a  great  soul  will  be  strong 
to  live  as  well  as  to  think."  Emerson — The  American  Scholar. 

That  for  the  eighth  grade  was: 

"The  deed  I  intend  is  great,  but  what  as  yet  I  know  not."  Ovid. 

That  for  the  seventh  grade : 

"Be  merry  all,  be  merry  all, 

With  holly  dress  the  festive  hall. 

Prepare  the  song,  the  feast,  the  dance. 

To  welcome  merry  Christmas." 

Spencer — Joys  of  Christmas. 

Although  the  last  quotation  is  longer  than  the  previous  one,  on 
account  of  the  rhyme  and  rhythm  it  is  more  easily  learned. 

From  the  normal  school  pupils  I  received  seventy-seven  papers, 
from  the  eighth  grade  twenty-nine,  and  from  the  seventh  grade 
forty-three.  Very  few  had  the  quotations  absolutely  correct.  The 
highest  per  cent.,  fourteen,  was  found  in  the  eighth  grade;  the  next 
highest,  seven,  in  the  seventh  grade;  and  the  lowest,  six,  among 
the  normal  school  students. 

The  highest  per  cent.,  eighteen,  who  gave  the  idea  of  the  quota- 
tion, was  found  among  the  normal  students;  the  next  highest, 
fourteen,  in  the  eighth  grade,  and  the  lowest,  four,  in  the  seventh 
grade.     Ideas,  not  words,  appealed  to  the  older  people. 

Some  gave  quotations  which  they  had  seen  elsewhere.  Many  of 
the  normal  school  students  told  just  where  the  quotation  was  written. 

This  is  a  mechanical  memory  by  which  one  remembers  the  exact 
position  of  a  word  in  the  dictionary  or  of  a  paragraph  upon  a 
printed  page. 

Although  much  that  might  be  remembered  incidentally  might 
and  would  prove  of  value,  the  power  or  ability  to  discriminate  that 
which  could  be  used  later  is  most  worthy  of  cultivation. 


THESIS  XV 

Children's  Ideas  of  Right  and  Wrong 

By  Fannie  G.  Steabns 

Thesis. — Having  been  placed  in  close  contact  with  children  during 
the  last  two  years,  I  have  become  interested  to  know  what  the  child's 
conception  of  right  and  wrong  might  be.  In  order  to  make  a  more 
intelligent  study  of  the  subject,  I  decided  that  by  questioning  chil- 
dren of  grades  one  and  two,  five  and  six  and  nine,  I  might  gain  some 
insight  into  their  opinions  regarding  right  and  wrong. 

The  questions  asked  of  each  child  were  these : 

What  is  the  worst  thing  a  girl  can  do? 

Why  do  you  consider  this  wrong? 

What  is  the  worst  thing  a  boy  can  do? 

Why  do  you  consider  this  wrong? 

In  all,  over  three  hundred  and  fifty  papers  were  received,  and 
in  answering  the  above  questions  the  children  gave  their  ideas  con- 
cerning what  they  believed  to  be  wrong  for  their  own  and  the 
opposite  sex.  In  some  cases,  particularly  with  the  younger  children, 
the  same  faults  were  mentioned  for  both  sexes,  but  those  who  did 
this  were  in  the  minority. 

The  answers  were  carefully  tabulated  according  to  age  and  grade, 
and  those  having  something  in  common,  such  as  drinking,  smoking, 
swearing,  lying  and  cheating  were  placed  in  groups.  The  grouping 
according  to  age  was  as  follows — from  five  to  seven — from  ten  to 
twelve — and  from  thirteen  to  sixteen  years  of  age.  For  convenience 
these  periods  will  be  considered  as  childhood — intermediate  years — 
and  adolescence. 

The  following  are  answers  typical  of  each  period.  A  boy  six 
years  of  age  said:  "The  worst  thing  a  girl  can  do  is  to  run  away 
because  mother  would  call  and  call  and  the  girl  wouldn't  hear  and 
mother  would  cry.  The  worst  thing  a  boy  can  do  is  to  set  the 
house  on  fire  because  some  one  might  not  know  and  be  burned  up." 
A  boy  eleven  years  old  wrote:  "Lying  is  the  worst  thing  a  girl  can 
do,  because  it  is  wrong  anyway.  To  smoke  or  swear  is  the  worst 
thing  a  boy  can  do  because  gentlemen  never  smoke  or  swear."  A 
girl  of  fifteen  years  wrote:  "The  worst  thing  a  girl  can  do  is  to 
disobey  her  parents.     If  a  girl  does  just  the  opposite  to  what  her 

89 


90  STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND    LEARNING 

parents  want  her  to,  she  will  most  likely  get  into  bad  company  and 
will  be  out  on  the  streets  acting  rude  and  disorderly." 

The  principal  faults  named  were  classified  in  five  groups.  The 
total  number  of  answers  included  in  these  groups  was  513  and  those 
mentioned  came  in  this  order :  bad  habits,  including  drinking,  smok- 
ing and  swearing,  168 ;  disobedience,  102 ;  having  low  social  habits, 
83 ;  and  stealing,  73. 

Deceit  was  considered  by  girls  as  the  worst  fault  for  their  own 
sex,  while  for  the  opposite  sex  they  named  bad  habits,  drinking, 
smoking  and  swearing.  These  two  are  doubtless  the  most  common 
faults  in  each.  Girls  do  not  consider  deceit  a  very  bad  fault  for 
boys  and  place  it  fifth  in  the  list  for  them.  It  is  generally  acknowl- 
edged that  girls  are  more  deceitful  than  boys  and  it  is  also  conceded 
that  it  is  the  worst  fault  in  women.  That  deceit  is  so  prominent 
in  their  minds  as  to  be  avoided  may  be  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that 
their  elders  warn  them  against  it  continually,  and  in  part  to  natural 
tendency. 

Girls  name  low  social  habits  and  disobedience  as  the  next  worst 
fault  to  be  avoided  by  themselves,  while  for  boys  they  put  them  in 
this  order — disobedience  and  low  social  habits.  That  girls  do  not 
mention  low  social  habits  as  being  as  bad  for  boys  as  for  themselves 
is  probably  because  this  vice  in  boys  is  not  emphasized  so  much  by 
older  people. 

Girls  place  drinking,  smoking  and  swearing  as  the  fourth  worst 
fault  for  themselves.  As  a  rule  they  do  not  indulge  in  these  vices, 
but  when  we  do  find  a  girl  who  has  stooped  so  low  we  are  stricken 
with  horror.  It  is  the  unusual  that  surprises  us  most  and  so  girls 
even  though  they  seldom  see  these  vices  in  their  own  sex  are  im- 
pressed with  the  fact  that  they  are  to  be  dreaded  in  girls. 

The  girls  believed  that  stealing  was  the  fourth  worst  fault  for 
boys  but  placed  it  fifth  for  themselves. 

We  will  now  consider  what  vices  are  worst  according  to  the 
opinions  of  the  boys.  They  say  that  drinking,  smoking  and  swearing 
are  the  worst  for  both  boys  and  girls.  In  this  they  seem  to  make  no 
distinction  as  to  sex.  Boys  say  that  the  second  worst  fault  for  them- 
selves is  cheating  while  for  girls  it  is  deceit. 

Stealing  seems  to  hold  a  very  prominent  place  in  the  opinion  of 
boys.  They  place  it  second  for  themselves  and  third  for  girls,  while 
girls  place  it  fifth  for  themselves  and  fourth  for  boys. 

Vandalism  stands  as  the  third  vice  boys  consider  for  themselves. 
It  is  scarcely  mentioned  for  girls.  Evidently  the  boys  think  of  this  as 
belonging  only  to  themselves.  The  term  vandalism  is  used  to  include 
fighting,  hurting  people  and  defacing  property.     It  may  be  that 


CHILDREN'S    IDEAS    OF    RIGHT    AND    WRONG  91 

boys  do  consider  this  as  the  third  worst  vice  for  themselves,  but  I 
think  it  was  given  this  high  position  because  of  the  stress  school 
authorities  had  laid  on  defacing  property  just  previous  to  the  writing 
of  these  papers  by  the  children.  Many  papers  showed  plainly  the 
influence  of  this  recent  experience. 

The  following  answer  is  typical  of  many  given  in  a  school  where 
this  vice  had  been  particularly  emphasized.  "The  worst  thing  a 
boy  can  do  is  to  go  to  school  and  then  deface  the  building  by  cutting 
it  and  marking  it  up.  I  consider  this  a  wrong  thing  because  the 
city  gave  the  children  the  free  use  of  the  school  and  the  children 
ought  to  treat  the  city  in  the  way  the  city  treated  the  children. ' ' 

According  to  boys,  disobedience  is  equally  bad  for  both  sexes  while 
they  consider  deceit  worse  for  girls  than  for  themselves. 

We  found  that  girls  gave  low  social  habits  a  prominent  place  as 
something  to  be  avoided  by  both  their  own  and  the  opposite  sex.  On 
the  other  hand  boys  place  it  at  the  end  of  the  list  for  boys  and  girls. 
That  boys  give  it  this  obscure  place  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that 
their  attention  has  been  called  to  it  less  than  is  the  case  with  girls. 

We  find  that,  as  to  the  three  periods  of  development,  drinking^ 
smoking  and  swearing  was  denounced  by  the  girls  as  being  a  worse 
vice  in  intermediate  years  than  in  the  two  other  periods.  Their 
beliefs  during  childhood  and  adolescence  regarding  this  vice  are 
about  the  same.  Girls  from  five  to  seven  years  of  age  do  not  realize 
the  meaning  of  these  habits.  They  see  older  boys  and  men  smoking 
and  it  means  practically  nothing  to  them.  They  see  an  intoxicated 
person  and  the  sight  serves  merely  as  an  amusement.  When  they 
have  reached  adolescence,  other  vices  which  affect  them  more  closely, 
seem  worse. 

The  conception  of  drinking,  smoking  and  swearing  as  the  worst 
things  a  child  can  do  reaches  its  climax  in  the  opinion  of  boys 
from  the  ages  of  ten  to  twelve  years.  During  childhood  it  is  less 
than  half  as  prominent  and  in  adolescence  it  ranks  much  lower  than 
during  intermediate  years.  This  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  during 
childhood  it  does  not  generally  enter  into  his  experience.  As  he 
reaches  intermediate  years  he  is  easily  influenced  by  what  he  sees 
and  hears  and  it  seems  an  astounding  wrong  and  a  vice  to  be 
abhorred.  Later  the  experience  becomes  common  among  his  friends. 
He  desires  to  become  a  man  and  considers  that  the  outward  signs 
make  this  an  enviable  condition.  This  is  particularly  true  of  smok- 
ing and  swearing.  The  commonest  of  these  habits  is  smoking  and  so 
it  no  longer  seems  wrong  or  a  fault,  but  an  incident,  an  event  in 
becoming  a  man. 

Disobedience  as  the  worst  fault  in  the  child's  opinion  is  most 


92  STUDIES   IN   DEVELOPMENT  AND   LEARNING 

prominent  from  five  to  seven  years  for  both  boys  and  girls.  Little 
girls  however  think  it  worse  than  little  boys.  And  have  we  not 
found  it  true  in  our  experience  with  small  children  that  girls  rather 
than  boys  think  it  a  greater  sin  to  disobey?  This  fault  holds  rather 
an  insignificant  place  during  intermediate  years  and  adolescence, 
and  is  practically  the  same  for  both  boys  and  girls. 

Girls  during  the  intermediate  period  do  not  consider  being  deceit- 
ful a  bad  fault  and  at  this  age  many  use  deceit  when  they  think 
it  is  for  their  advantage.  In  childhood  they  consider  lying  worse 
than  they  do  in  intermediate  years.  This  may  be  explained  by  the 
fact  that  small  children  probably  consider  lying  the  same  as  dis- 
obedience. 

Deceit  for  boys  is  believed  to  be  worse  by  themselves  during 
adolescence.  At  this  age  they  seem  to  realize  that  a  person  whose 
word  can  not  be  relied  upon  will  not  get  along  in  the  world  for  no 
one  will  place  sufficient  faith  in  him  even  to  give  him  work. 

When  we  consider  the  five  worst  faults  for  boys  and  girls  of  all 
ages  we  find  that  girls  believed  that  low  social  habits  was  worst  for 
themselves.  The  figures  show  that  in  childhood  they  consider  this 
worst.  That  this  fault  should  be  most  prominent  during  childhood 
in  the  opinion  of  girls  seems  almost  impossible,  but  it  is  to  be  ex- 
plained in  this  way.  Of  all  the  faults  mentioned  by  girls  from 
five  to  seven  years  of  age  running  away  was  considered  the  worst. 
Running  away  was  included  in  my  classification  under  the  general 
term  social  habits,  hence  the  high  place  that  low  social  habits  holds 
in  the  minds  of  girls  from  five  to  seven. 

This  having  been  disposed  of  we  may  safely  say  that  low  social 
habits  as  the  term  is  commonly  used  stand  highest  as  that  to  be 
avoided  in  the  opinion  of  girls  during  adolescence  rather  than  in 
childhood  or  intermediate  years.  With  boys  this  stood  highest 
during  intermediate  years  and  lowest  during  adolescence. 

Stealing  was  not  mentioned  at  all  by  girls  from  five  to  seven 
and  stood  highest  from  thirteen  to  sixteen  years.  That  it  is  highest 
during  adolescence  seems  to  show  that  at  that  period  in  life  girls 
come  to  realize  what  it  means  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  thief.  Stealing 
is  looked  upon  by  boys  too  as  being  worst  during  adolescence. 

Girls  from  five  to  seven  believe  the  vice  to  be  guarded  against 
most  is  disobedience,  from  ten  to  twelve  bad  habits — drinking,  smok- 
ing and  swearing  and  from  thirteen  to  sixteen  deceit.  With  t-he 
exception  of  bad  habits,  considered  worst  during  intermediate  years, 
the  faults  that  they  named  as  being  worst  for  themselves  are  probably 
the  ones  they  yield  to  most. 

Boys  from  five  to  seven  believe  disobedience  to  be  the  worst 


CHILDREN'S   IDEAS   OF   RIGHT   AXD    WRONG  93 

vice,  from  ten  to  twelve  and  from  thirteen  to  sixteen  bad  habits. 
Boys  from  thirteen  to  sixteen  give  stealing  a  very  prominent  place 
also.  I  believe  that  boys,  too,  indulge  most  largely  in  those  vices 
which  they  say  they  believe  to  be  the  worst  for  themselves. 

As  to  the  reasons  why  the  things  named  were  worst  the  answers 
given  seemed  to  divide  themselves  into  four  classes,  namely,  the 
social,  the  law  abiding,  the  character  and  the  punishment  groups. 

From  the  results  obtained  by  a  comparison  of  the  four  groups 
it  seems  that  the  largest  number  of  children,  of  all  ages  and  both 
sexes  together,  are  prevented  from  wrong  doing  by  the  fact  that  if 
they  are  guilty  of  certain  faults  it  will  prevent  them  from  developing 
a  good  character.  Many  answers  in  this  group  gave  the  idea  that 
certain  acts  were  wrong  for  children  not  so  much  because  of  the 
doing  of  the  single  act  but  because  of  what  it  would  lead  to. 

A  boy  twelve  years  of  age  wrote :  ' '  The  worst  thing  a  boy  can  do 
is  to  steal.  I  consider  this  a  very  bad  beginning  for  a  small  boy." 
"While  a  girl  of  fourteen  years  says:  "I  think  the  worst  thing  a 
girl  can  do  is  to  cheat.  A  person  who  cheats  once  will  cheat  every 
time  they  get  the  chance." 

For  children,  of  all  ages  and  both  sexes  counted  together,  those 
motives  classed  as  law-abiding  were  very  nearly  as  prominent.  In 
this  division  were  included  reverence,  home  training,  wrong  and 
the  Ten  Commandments.  Typical  answers  grouped  under  each  of 
these  particular  headings  may  prove  of  interest  here. 

"I  think  the  worst  thing  a  boy  can  do  is  to  say  or  do  anything 
against  his  mother  because  your  mother  is  the  best  friend  you  have. 
If  anything  goes  wrong  with  you  she  will  protect  you." 

"The  worst  thing  a  boy  could  do  would  be  to  deliberately  rob 
any  person.  That  boy  ought  to  be  fined  and  imprisoned  because  a 
boy  who  has  had  a  proper  training  at  home  ought  to  know  better." 

"The  worst  thing  a  boy  can  do  is  to  go  with  girls  and  swear.  I 
consider  this  wrong  because  girls  are  very  giddy  and  swearing  is 
very  wrong." 

A  girl  of  twelve  years  writes:  "The  worst  thing  a  girl  can  do 
is  to  swear  because  it  is  taking  the  name  of  God  in  vain.  The  worst 
thing  a  boy  can  do  is  to  steal  because  it  says  in  the  Bible  "Thou 
shalt  not  steal." 

Next  in  prominence  was  the  social  group  which  includes  public 
opinion,  reputation,  approval  and  desire  to  please.  A  girl  of  thir- 
teen years  influenced  in  her  moral  ideas  by  public  opinion  Avrote: 
"I  think  the  worst  thing  a  girl  can  do  is  to  go  around  with  a 
+ough  crowd  for  it  will  make  her  name  quite  known  and  she  will 
have  to  work  very  hard  to  enter  any  decent  society."     A  boy  of 


94  STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND   LEARNING 

fourteen  years  of  age  believed  that  the  worst  thing  a  boy  could 
do  was  to  get  into  bad  company  because  it  would  give  him  a  bad 
reputation. 

A  little  girl  influenced  in  her  opinion  of  what  is  wrong  by  the 
approval  of  older  people  said  she  thought  the  worst  thing  a  girl 
could  do  was  not  to  be  good  because  mama  wouldn't  like  her. 

The  following  answer  might  be  classed  under  desire  for  approval 
or  desire  to  please.  ''The  worst  thing  a  boy  or  girl  can  do  is  to 
whisper  in  school  because  teacher  don't  want  you  to." 

Although  it  has  been  stated  that  the  groups  showing  the  motives 
most  prominent,  in  the  minds  of  children  of  all  ages  and  both  sexes 
together,  were  first — character,  second — law-abiding,  third — social 
and  fourth  punishment,  it  may  also  be  stated  that  the  first  three 
were  about  equally  prominent  while  the  fourth  ranked  far  below. 

We  will  now  separate  boys  from  girls,  still  massing  all  ages 
together,  and  compare  the  motives  expressed  by  boys  and  by  girls. 
Girls  are  influenced  first  by  the  social  motives  while  with  boys 
obedience  to  law  is  the  first  requisite.  I  believe  that  both  have  named 
the  things  which  do  influence  them  most  in  their  actions.  Who  can 
show  us  the  person  who  has  observed  children  widely  and  who  will 
not  say  that  girls  are  influenced  in  their  actions  first  by  what  people 
will  think  of  them,  while  boys  are  influenced  most  by  whether  they 
are  keeping  within  the  law  or  not,  not  merely  law  as  laid  down  by 
our  courts  but  by  the  moral  law. 

With  boys  social  motives  come  second  while  with  girls  law 
abiding  motives  hold  second  place. 

As  to  the  advantage  of  possessing  a  good  character  both  boys 
and  girls  agree  and  both  would  strive  for  it  equally.  This  is  prob- 
ably the  result  of  moral  training  together  with  their  innate  goodness. 
In  this  we  in  part  agree  with  John  Locke,  the  English  philosopher, 
"who  said  that  people  are  naturally  good  and  that  they  develop  other 
than  in  the  right  way  owing  to  contact  with  vice  in  the  world. 

Punishment  as  a  prevention  of  wrong  doing  holds  an  equally 
small  place  with  both  sexes. 

We  will  now  see  what  place  these  four  motives  hold  in  the 
minds  of  children  during  childhood,  intermediate  years  and  adoles- 
cence. 

The  motives  placed  in  the  social  group  are  most  prominent  in 
childhood  and  least  prominent  during  intermediate  years.  They 
stand  very  much  higher  in  girls  than  in  boys  during  this  period. 
We  found  that  girls  of  all  ages  placed  these  higher  than  boys.  INIany 
people  believe  this  is  due  to  the  fact  that  girls  are  trained  in  such  a 
way  as  to  make  them  more  sensitive  to  public  opinion.     But  that 


CHILDREN'S   IEEA8   OF   RIGHT    AND    WRONG  95 

during  childhood  the  social  motives  stand  67  per  cent,  in  girls  and 
only  19  per  cent,  in  boys  points  to  the  conclusion  that  girls  are 
naturally  more  sensitive  than  boys  in  this  respect,  for  I  do  not  be- 
lieve that  up  to  the  time  boys  and  girls  are  five  years  old  their 
training  in  this  respect  has  been  any  different. 

In  girls  the  law-abiding  motives  are  equally  prominent  in  child- 
hood and  intermediate  years  and  less  so  in  adolescence.  That  is, 
girls  come  to  realize  in  adolescence  the  importance  of  having  a  good 
character.  By  girls  punishment  as  a  preventative  of  wrong  doing 
was  scarcely  mentioned  either  in  childhood  or  adolescence  but  was 
most  prominent  during  intermediate  years.  This  may  be  due  to 
the  fact  that  parents  think  they  find  more  occasion  to  punish  chil- 
dren of  this  age  and  act  according  to  their  belief.  It  may  be  ex- 
plained in  part  also  by  the  fact  that  to  children  of  this  age  immediate 
punishment  for  their  sins  seems  worse  than  some  consequence  that 
although  it  might  not  happen  for  a  longer  time  would  really  be 
more  disastrous  and  far  reaching  in  the  end.  This  would  be  realized 
by  children  in  adolescence  while  in  early  childhood  they  think  it 
much  worse  not  to  be  liked  than  to  be  punished. 

In  regard  to  the  ages  when  conformity  to  law  seems  most  neces- 
sary, boys  and  girls  agree  very  closely.  Regarding  punishment 
the  prominence  in  the  different  ages  agrees  for  both  sexes.  In  child- 
hood, however,  boys  place  it  higher  than  girls. 

During  childhood,  intermediate  years  and  adolescence  girls  are 
kept  from  wrong  doing  by  the  opinion  of  others,  conformity  to 
stated  rules  and  the  necessity  of  having  a  good  character,  respec- 
tively. During  the  same  periods  of  life  boys  are  guided  by  con- 
formity to  stated  rules  during  the  first  two  and  in  the  third  by  the 
necessity  of  possessing  a  good  character. 

In  conclusion  let  us  see  how  parents  and  teachers  may  take  advan- 
tage of  the  child's  ideals  and  appeal  to  him  along  the  line  of  his  own 
motives  for  avoiding  wrong.  Justice  is  the  primary  virtue  of  all 
races  and  not  until  the  coming  of  Christ  did  the  world  ever  hold 
the  conception  of  mercy  and  not  sacrifice.  So  to  a  child  justice  is 
the  primary  virtue  and  the  great  ideal.  To  his  mind  it  means  doing 
according  to  his  reasoning.  So  if  we  can  meet  the  child  on  his  own 
moral  ground,  win  him  through  his  own  conceptions,  encourage  the 
good  motive  and  thwart  the  low  motive  we  have  won  our  child. 

Let  us  first  consider  his  childhood.  The  motive  and  ideal  here 
is  naturally  simple  and  easily  reached.  We  found  that  girls  from 
five  to  seven  years  of  age  are  influenced  most  easily  through  the 
social  motives — desire  to  please  and  approval. 

When  the  children  enter  the  school  for  the  first  time  we  must 


96 


STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND   LEARNING 


influence  them  in  such  a  way  that  they  will  wish  to  please  us.  In 
order  to  do  this  we  must  win  their  affection.  We  can  express  our 
approval  of  their  little  efforts  to  do  right  and  teach  them  the  kind 
of  reputation  we  wish  them  to  covet  by  means  of  stories  such  as 
Joseph  and  other  Bible  heroes  and  Baucis  and  Philemon. 

The  teacher  whose  pupil  said  it  was  wrong  to  whisper  because 
teacher  don't  want  you  to,  had  appealed  in  some  way  to  a  strong 
motive  in  the  little  one. 

The  little  boys  are  also  strongly  influenced  by  obedience  to  law 
be  that  law  ever  so  simple.  The  boy  who  said  he  must  not  drop 
chalk  because  it  was  wrong  was  loyal  to  the  teacher's  law.  So  it 
would  seem  that  they  are  willing  to  take  our  superior  knowledge  for 
granted  and  abide  by  our  laws  and  advice. 

Next  we  will  consider  the  intermediate  period,  for  all  children 
must  pass  through  the  three  stages— childhood,  intermediate  years 
and  adolescence.  The  motive  appealing  to  girls  during  intermediate 
years  has  changed  to  the  law  abiding  although  the  social  motives 
still  remain  strong.  The  girl  twelve  years  of  age  who  says  it  is 
wrong  to  swear  because  it  is  taking  God's  name  in  vain  has  grown 
some  since  the  period  when  personal  approval  was  her  motive  for 
avoiding  the  wrong  act.  In  a  few  years  more  she  will  be  influenced 
by  all  the  new  feelings  and  ideals  of  adolescence  and  we  must 
recognize  the  bridge  between  the  two  and  not  swing  too  far  either 
way.  We  have  a  right  to  appeal  to  our  girls  in  the  fifth  and  sixth 
grades  by  examples  of  the  lives  of  noble  men  and  women  who  have 
sacrificed  themselves  to  obey  the  higher  law  of  conscience  or  the 
voice  of  God.  Stories  from  the  Greeks  and  Romans  may  prove  in- 
valuable in  these  grades. 

The  boys  and  girls  of  this  intermediate  period  agree,  so  that  any 
well  founded  system  of  law  in  which  the  children  have  some  part, 
that  is  recognized  as  universal  law,  will  appeal  strongly  to  both  sexes. 

Now  we  come  to  the  great  period  of  change  known  to  the  psy- 
chologist as  adolescence.  It  is  the  most  trying  period  of  a  child 's  life. 
Everything  changes — body,  mind  and  spirit — and  we  find  our  girls 
and  boys  leaving  previous  ideals  behind  and  reaching  toward  the 
great  ideal  of  manhood  and  womanhood.  In  both  sexes  the  strong 
motive  is  character  building  or  an  appreciation  of  the  great  dignity 
and  worth  of  life.  Here  we  may  in  our  eighth  and  ninth  grades  and 
in  the  high  school  introduce  simple  studies  in  ' '  Every-day  Ethics. ' ' 

It  is  as  though  a  plant  grew  up  to  the  light  and  then  found 
no  food  in  its  welcome  rays.  The  children  are  seeking  after  char- 
acter and  they  need  more  than  example,  they  need  instruction  in 
the  fundamentals  of  good  character.  The  girl  who  thought  it  was 
wrong  to  cheat  because  it  led  to  the  habit  of  cheating  was  on  the 


CHILDREN'S   IDEAS   OF   EIGHT    AND    WRONG 


97 


right  road.  The  teacher  could  easily  influence  that  girl  along  other 
lines  by  appealing  to  the  truth  she  had  discovered  for  herself  that 
one  wrong  act  leads  to  another  or  that  one  step  in  the  wrong  direction 
makes  it  easier  to  take  the  next. 

TABLE    XXVI 
The  Worst  Fault,  According  to  Girls 

The  numbers  opposite  each  fault  mentioned  at  the  left  give  the  per  cent, 
of  girls,  of  each  age,  who  condemn  this  fault  most  strongly  in  girls  and  in 
boys. 


Worst  Fault  of  Girls 

Worst  Fault  of  Boys 

Aox 

5-7 

10-12 

13-16 

Total 

5-7 

10-12 

13-16 

Total 

Number  of  girls  judging, 

33 

46 

lOJf 

183 

S3 

^y 

38 

118 

Drink, 

2 

1 

8 

10 

7 

Smoke, 

6 

1 

2 

Swear, 

9 

30 

5 

12 

19 

40 

8 

24 

Group  total, 

9 

36 

8 

15 

19 

48 

18 

31 

Form  bad  habits, 

4 

2 

10 

4 

Keep  bad  company, 

4 

2 

2 

3 

1 

Be  bold. 

2 

1 

Be  out  late. 

2 

4 

3 

Run  away, 

28 

5 

22 

2 

5 

8 

Kiss  a  boy, 

2 

1 

Be  untidy. 

2 

3 

2 

Be  impolite. 

1 

1 

Be  saucy, 

16 

6 

7 

2 

7 

4 

Group  total, 

28 

26 

22 

24 

22 

4 

25 

16 

Be  deceitful, 

2 

4 

3 

Lie, 

16 

12 

19 

16 

9 

3 

4 

Cheat, 

4 

12 

8 

7 

2 

Group  total, 

16 

18 

35 

28 

9 

10 

6 

Steal, 

2 

15 

10 

15 

29 

15 

Group  total, 

2 

15 

10 

15 

29 

15 

Torture, 

1 

1 

Commit  murder, 

1 

1 

3 

1 

Take  animal  life, 

2 

1 

Deface  property, 

1 

1 

Slap  people. 

3 

1 

3 

1 

Throw  dirt, 

3 

1 

3 

1 

Fight, 

15 

5 

Group  total, 

6 

3 

5 

6 

17 

3 

9 

Disobedience, 

19 

6 

9 

10 

22 

8 

5 

11 

Disrespect  to  parents, 

4 

2 

7 

2 

Tease  mother, 

3 

1 

Whisper, 

19 

3 

19 

5 

Drop  crayons. 

3 

1 

6 

2 

Play  truant. 

6 

2 

Group  total, 

44 

6 

13 

17 

47 

H 

12 

22 

Lose  self  respect, 

1 

1 

Sin, 

2 

1 

Jump  rope, 

4 

1 

98 


STUDIES   IN    DEVELOPMENT   AND   LEARNING 


TABLE    XXVII 
The  Wobst  Fault,  Accobding  to  Bots 
The  numbers  opposite  each  fault  mentioned  at  the  left  give  the  per  cent. 


of  boys,  at  each  age,  who 

condemi 

1  this 

fault 

most  s 

tronglj 

T  in   DC 

ys   an 

a  in 

girls. 

Worst  Fault  of  Boys 

Worst  Fault  of  Girls 

Age 

5-7 

10-12 

13-16 

Total 

5-7 

10-12 

13-16 

Tota 

Number  of  boys  judging, 

32 

52 

91 

175 

31 

54 

52 

137 

Drink, 

6 

8 

6 

3 

6 

4 

Smoke, 

34 

24 

23 

11 

5 

Swear, 

19 

18 

12 

15 

19 

9 

12 

12 

Group  total, 

19 

58 

44 

43 

19 

23 

18 

21 

Lie, 

2 

4 

3 

12 

11 

16 

13 

Cheat, 

2 

3 

2 

14 

5 

Group  total, 

4 

7 

5 

12 

11 

30 

18 

Steal, 

3 

16 

25 

19 

22 

26 

18 

Group  total, 

3 

16 

25 

19 

22 

26 

18 

Disobedience, 

19 

2 

6 

7 

12 

2 

3 

Disrespect  to  parents, 

4 

2 

4 

1 

Desert  parents. 

2 

1 

Play  truant, 

2 

1 

5 

2 

Whisper, 

12 

2 

6 

1 

Not  look  on  book. 

3 

1 

Be  lazy. 

2 

1 

7 

8 

6 

Group  total, 

31 

8 

10 

13 

21 

12 

14 

15 

Have  bad  thoughts, 

2 

1 

Gamble, 

1 

1 

Deface  property. 

6 

8 

5 

Kill  a  person. 

6 

1 

2 

2 

1 

Fight, 

2 

1 

5 

6 

5 

Have  matches. 

6 

1 

Set  &re, 

3 

1 

Hurt  people, 

19 

3 

19 

4 

Get  on  track, 

6 

1 

Go  out  in  rain. 

3 

1 

13 

3 

Group  total. 

36 

8 

10 

14 

38 

9 

6 

14 

Be   out   late, 

2 

1 

1 

5 

6 

4 

Go  with  girl. 

4 

1 

2 

Go  with  boy, 

3 

4 

3 

Kiss  a  boy. 

2 

1 

Be  saucy. 

2 

1 

1 

4 

1 

Run  away, 

9 

2 

6 

1 

Group  total, 

9 

8 

3 

5 

6 

14 

10 

10 

Sin, 

2 

-1 

5 

2 

CHILDREN'S    IDEAS   OF    EIGHT    AND    WRONG  99 

TABLE    XXVIII 

Why  Faults  Are  Wrong,  According  to  Girls 
The  numbers  opposite  each  reason  indicated  at  the  left  give  the  per  cent, 
of  girls,  of  each  age,  who  assign  this  as  the  reason  for  the  badness  of  the  worst 
faults  of  girls  and  of  boys. 


Faults  of  Girls 

Faults  of  Boys 

Age 

5-7 

10-12 

13-16 

Total 

5-7 

10-12 

13-16 

Total 

Number  of  girls  judging, 

34 

43 

108 

185 

S4 

^/5 

47 

130 

Public  opinion. 

20 

18 

15 

17 

20 

16 

11 

15 

Reputation, 

9 

16 

12 

10 

15 

9 

Approval, 

18 

2 

3 

12 

3 

Desire  to  please, 

32 

6 

32 

8 

Group  total, 

70 

29 

31 

38 

64 

26 

26 

36 

Reverence, 

2 

6 

4 

2 

1 

Home  training, 

7 

11 

8 

7 

2 

Wrong, 

26 

7 

5 

9 

29 

4 

6 

10 

Ten  commandments. 

25 

3 

8 

14 

4 

5 

Group  total, 

26 

41 

25 

28 

29 

18 

19 

21 

Character, 

12 

6 

19 

6 

What  it  leads  tOj 

3 

16 

29 

21 

30 

36 

24 

Group  total. 

3 

16 

41 

29 

30 

55 

31 

Punishment, 

12 

2 

3 

5 

24 

11 

Group  total, 

12 

2 

3 

5 

24 

11 

TABLE    XXIX 
Why  Faults  are  Wrong,  According  to  Boys 
The  numbers  opposite  each  reason  indicated  at  the  left  give  the  per  cent, 
of  boys,  of  each  age,  who  assign  this  as  the  reason  for  the  badness  for  the 
worst  faults  of  boys  and  of  girls. 


Faults  of  Boys 

Faults  of  Girls 

Acs 

5-7 

10-12 

13-16 

Total 

5-7 

10-12 

13-16 

Total 

Number  of  boys  judging, 

32 

55 

86 

173 

31 

53 

50 

134 

Public  opinion, 

3 

9 

10 

9 

10 

28 

12 

Reputation, 

5 

7 

5 

2 

22 

8 

Approval, 

15 

3 

10 

2 

Group  total, 

18 

14 

17 

16 

20 

2 

50 

23 

Reverence, 

6 

3 

17 

4 

8 

Home  training. 

12 

7 

11 

10 

6 

14 

10 

10 

Wrong; 

46 

5 

4 

12 

46 

10 

10 

19 

Ten  commandments, 

18 

2 

7 

4 

1 

Group  total. 

58 

30 

23 

32 

52 

45 

24 

40 

Character, 

7 

13 

9 

What  it  leads  to. 

12 

29 

39 

33 

3 

29 

26 

22 

Group  total, 

12 

36 

52 

40 

3 

29 

26 

22 

Punishment, 

9 

11 

5 

16 

21 

12 

Group  total, 

9 

11 

5 

16 

21 

12 

Humanitarianism, 

1 

1 

Prudence, 

3 

2 

Virtue, 

12 

2 

Example, 

6 

1 

Group  total. 

12 

4 

4 

6 

1 

Theses  XVI  and  XVII 

Thesis  XVI.,  by  Frances  Denis  Smith,  and  Thesis  XVII.,  by 
Grace  I.  Davis,  were  based  on  the  study  of  individual  children. 
Space  can  be  spared  to  quote  only  the  definitions  given  by  the  little 
girl  studied  by  Miss  Davis  for  several  years. 

When  she  was  five,  she  defined  school  thus: 

"School  is  made  of  brick  and  it  is  big." 

At  ten  she  says:  "School  really  is  a  place  to  learn.  You  have 
to  go  to  school  until  you  are  fourteen  and  when  you  have  examina- 
tions, that's  what  shows  how  much  you  know.  I  have  just  had 
mine  and  I  got  E  in  them  all." 

At  five — "Bee  is  a  bird  that  I  never  see." 

jf^i  ten — "Bee  is  larger  than  a  fly  and  buzzes  louder.  It  has  one 
eye  right  in  the  center  of  its  face  and  a  hair  horn  each  side  of  it. 
It  has  yellow  on  its  tail  and  it  will  sting,  anyway  the  one  I  did 
see  did." 

j^t  five — "Lady  is  a  growed  up  woman." 

^t  ten — "A  lady  is  anyone  that  knows  good  manners  and  uses 
them,  that  is  what  my  father  says  is  a  lady. ' ' 

^t  five — "Water  is  what  we  drink  and  you  can't  pick  it  up  and 
you  can't  hold  it  in  your  hands  at  all.  It  runs  way  off  with  the 
dam  and  it  can  swim  and  float  along  and  it  is  water. ' ' 

j^t  ten — "Water  is  a  liquid.  It  isn't  white  but  it  is  the  color  of 
glass  and  it  looks  lil?;e  glass.  It  comes  from  the  clouds  and  makes 
rivers.  Rivers  have  whirly  places  that  drown  people.  We  could 
not  live  without  water." 

At  five — "Dogs  have  four  legs.  Some  have  long  hair  and  some 
have  not.    Some  are  big  dogs  and  some  are  just  little  pups. ' ' 

At  ten — "A  dog  is  a  little  four  footed  animal  and  knows  more 
than  any  other  animal  I  know.    St.  Bernards  save  people." 

At  five — ' '  A  fish  has  six  wings,  two  eyes  and  a  mouth,  and  a  flat 
back  and  some  are  gold  fishes  and  have  a  head — about  a  hundred 
inches  long  and  it  flies  into  the  water  and  has  two  cuts  in  the  sides 
of  the  head  and  these  cuts  shake  all  the  time. ' ' 

It  might  be  well  to  add  that  when  she  formed  this  definition  she 
had  a  globe  containing  gold  fish  before  her. 

At  ten — "A  fish  has  a  long  fin  on  its  back  and  three  on  the  un- 
derside and  lives  in  water.  It  has  a  place  cut  on  each  side  where- 
it  breathes  and  its  mouth  is  most  always  moving." 

100 


A    CHILD'S   DEFINITIONS  101 

At  five — ' '  A  chicken  is  a  little  hen — wears  white  stockings  and  is 
good  for  white  eggs." 

At  ten — "A  chicken  is  a  little  hen,  some  people  call  them  fowls. 
The  hens  lay  eggs  and  if  they  are  not  too  lazy  hatch  them  into 
chickens. ' ' 

At  five — "Pride  is  to  feel  funny." 

At  ten — "Pride,  well  people  that  are  proud  think  they  are  smart 
and  make  a  lot  of  motions  and  people  don't  like  them." 

At  five — "Moss  is  the  most  like  grass  or  hair  of  anything  I 
know  of." 

At  ten — "Moss  is  damp  green  stuff.  It  doesn't  grow  as  high  as 
grass.  Spanish  moss  is  gray  like  gray  hair  and  grows  long  and  is 
stringy  and  hard  to  break." 

At  five — "Man,  first  God  borns  them  and  they  are  little  and  cry 
and  grow  until  a  hundred  and  seventy  years  if  they  don 't  die  before, 
sometimes  they  do. ' ' 

At  ten — "A  man  is  a  master.  A  fellow  is  not  a  man  until  he  is 
thirty-five  or  forty  years  old.  Some  men  wear  glasses,  some  men 
are  five  feet,  six  inches  tall,  some  are  fat  and  some  are  slim.  Men 
have  short  hair  and  some  of  them  have  mustaches.  You  can  tell 
a  man  from  a  woman  by  his  dress  and  hat  and  he  looks  cross." 


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